Sanative Empathy
by Mistreve
Summary: An incident between lovers only begun, a journey of heart and body, and finding comfort where possible. A college city AU involving team RWBY as they try to make sense of life while growing up.
1. Chapter 1

**Hey everyone! Please bear with me while I find a rhythm for this fic. It's my most ambitious writing project as of late, but I don't plan on stopping anytime soon.**  
**I have a list of planned chapters that I'll be working on, and the whole fic planned out, but some chapters may require being split, so the number of chapters may change as this continues. Currently, the release schedule of chapters is once a week, so please keep an eye out!**

**1 - A Cold Start**

The summer sun beat down across the city and, in combination with the asphalt and reflective windows, pushed the temperature to a height that was both uncomfortable and dehydrating. It was the end of the season. The peak of the heat had come and it was going to be a slow coast into cooler temperatures but, for many, the heat was welcome. With only a week before the fall semester at Beacon College beginning, students already started their mass influx. Human and faunus alike began to fill the dorms, roam the campus, and overall give the college a sense of fullness it had been lacking weeks prior. Moving trucks and cars filled parking spots. Local and campus book stores were stocked in preparation for the new semester to kick off. Most students filled their time getting settled or learning the city. Many took it upon themselves to explore the nearby forests; the area was well known for the hiking trails, rated in the top twenty of many outdoors travel magazines. Others who had lived near the area or were returning already fell into routines. All of the shops had started their part-time hiring for the seasons ahead as students came in looking for something, anything to make ends meet. Some people even had begun their sparring sessions. Uncommon in many other schools, Beacon boasted their semblance training curriculum alongside their other academics. Each person's semblance and aura is like a fingerprint, no two abilities or manifestations were the exact same.

Amidst the campus chaos of new people, though, a commotion was largely ignored. A white-haired woman clad in a blue dress, no more than twenty, stormed across the campus and was followed by a younger woman with dark red and black hair. She looked to be eighteen at most, and the dark colors she wore caused her cheeks to flush in the heat.

"Weiss! Stop! We need to talk about this!" Ruby ran after Weiss, her black boots thudding against the pavement as she went chasing her across the college campus. She didn't need the extra speed of her semblance to keep up. In fact, if she wanted, she could easily overtake the girl. History had proven time and time again that she could. But she didn't. She didn't want to because she wanted Weiss to stop on her own. "Please just stop and talk to me," she pleaded, the tone of her voice carrying her worry and concern. The two had left the cafeteria only a moment before. Ruby slowed her pace when she noticed Weiss doing the same, and finally stopped. Their conversation had begun just outside the cafeteria after the Schnee girl received a phone call from her sister. Whatever it was that Winter had said rattled Weiss. Ruby recalled their lunch going well enough before the phone call. But their argument soon after the phone call carried them across campus, leaving the main paths, away from all of the other buildings, and to a stop behind the stadium, away from everyone else. Ruby had to question if a more private location was Weiss' goal of if it was a complete coincidence. Perhaps this meant Weiss was going to finally tell her what was wrong.

"Ruby, this isn't something up for discussion. I already told you, and I can't handle this right now." Weiss turned around to face the girl in red. The pain of keeping her familial secrets always weighed on her, especially from Ruby. This time was no exception. "My father is already putting enough pressure on me, Winter is now pressuring me, and I don't need you doing it, too. So, please. Back off." Sadness dragged her expression down, pulled her shoulders down into a slump. She wished Ruby would understand this wasn't something negotiable right then. Not when it came to her father and the family company. Not when Winter needed her.

"I'm not going to. Weiss, please. Let me in. We're dating, we're in this together, and that- that means something to me. Doesn't it to you, too? We had waited. So long..." Ruby trailed off and a look of hurt fell over her face. "I thought we were dating at least, but that doesn't seem to be the case anymore, is it? What is it that's got you like this? What did Winter say?" Ruby took a few steps closer to Weiss with pleading eyes and hesitation, fearing she would flee again, preparing to move quickly if she did flee again. Her heart ached and anxiety gnawed at her. Something was definitely wrong with Weiss and she wanted to know. It was always like this with Weiss' family. Always. The girl would never open up and it was always a sore spot in her relationship with the Schnee girl.

The white-haired girl closed her eyes and sighed. This was not how she wanted anything to go. She assumed her family drama would be left behind, at least while she was at school, but it had followed her. Rather than open her eyes again, Weiss raised a hand to pinch the bridge of her nose. "I- I can't tell you. Please, just trust me. I'm leaving the dorm and moving back home." Weiss didn't want to. Of course, she didn't want to leave her girlfriend behind like that. Especially not when it had taken the two of them years of awkward attempts at flirting through high school before either of them realized the other was in any way interested in return. That was followed by the difficult time where Weiss had to return home after she graduated when Ruby had to finish high school without her. It took a lot of convincing, but Weiss, with the help of her sister Winter, managed to convince their father to let Weiss attend Beacon. They were so excited to have gotten into the same school after Ruby's graduation. They were going to be able to be together. Things had only begun to settle into place for Weiss with Ruby. Despite this, she also couldn't tell Ruby she didn't want to leave because that would only make her having to leave even harder.

"So, this is it? You're just what? Leaving me here like this?" Another step closer to Weiss. "The semester's about to start and you're leaving before it even does? Please talk to me."

"Ruby-" Each girl looked on the verge of tears, but Weiss knew she would be the one to break first. She always was.

"No, Weiss! There's something going on and I want you to trust me, too. I want to help. Or at least, I don't know. Know the reason why you're leaving me. Please."

"Ruby. Stop." Weiss turned to leave and Ruby reached a hand out to grab her shoulder. With an icy shrug of her shoulder, she pulled away from the girl in red.

"Can you at least tell me if it was something I did? Or said?" Ruby's voice cracked as she held back her tears. She had wanted to date her best friend for so long, and now that everything was lining up for the two of them, it was being taken away without explanation. Maybe... maybe she was wrong in asking Weiss out. But that couldn't be because Weiss had confessed, too. None of it was making sense. She wasn't thinking properly and the suddenness of it all was mixing her thoughts up.

"No, Ruby, it's- It's not you." Weiss' words felt hollow in her throat as she said them. How could she possibly begin to explain the problems she was facing from her family, she didn't know. Winter's words that their father had Alzheimer's still rang in her ears. Their mother had asked that neither of them says anything about it for the sake of the family company. Not yet. Not until she could get some affairs in order. Weiss was tired of how tedious it was to be in that family.

"Then what is it?"

"I need time. To process. Maybe we need to spend some time apart." With tears in her eyes, she started to leave again. She knew she would be the one to cry first. Weiss pulled her rapier, Myrtenaster, from her hip, ready to erect a wall of ice if she needed to. A series of four chambers, each filled with a different color of elemental dust, sat embedded into the hilt, ready to be dispensed at a moment's notice. She took a few hurried steps and when she heard Ruby start to protest, she turned back around, expelling a chamber of ice dust to make a big push. The ice started to materialize to Weiss' horror, not realizing how close she had fired. Or even if she had meant to fire. The act was involuntary. Muscle memory.

The girl in red didn't hesitate. She bolted forward after her girlfriend to try and catch her again but was unexpectedly confronted with a great deal of ice dust and tried to move out of the way. She wasn't fast enough. Weiss wasn't fast enough to stop it. Dust quickly exploded into ice, slamming into her, covering her skin, and her clothes. The wall of ice had more than knocked her back; it had thrown her back and she landed on her side and rolled with a loud snap. The ice dust continued to turn to ice, her face slowly being covered. Ruby gasped for air, but the crystals in her throat had already begun to choke her.

"No, no, no, no," Weiss repeated, filled with a growing sense of panic. "No, Ruby. Ruby? Please be okay, please be okay," she continued while running towards the fallen girl. "You have to be okay, please be okay." Weiss dropped to her knees next to Ruby. The ice was already covering most of her and it was difficult to tell if she even had a pulse. Her attempts to remove the ice crystals forming on Ruby's skin were fruitless and she cried even harder. "I- I have to- I need to get someone." Weiss looked around as her panic grew higher. Hands shaking and vision blurred, the white-haired girl started to run as fast as she could, shouting for help the entire way. Several people looked in the direction of the crying girl but didn't know what to do. Many others ignored her, not wanting to get involved in whatever it was she had going on. Weiss neared the student center where a counselor heard the yelling and rushed out to stop her.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, slow down. Deep breaths, dear. What's wrong?" The soft voice of the older woman tried to soothe Weiss. She quickly jogged up to her to stop her and get the story of what had happened.

"She's- I need- No, she needs- Ruby.,.. hurt." Weiss was nearly out of breath between her crying and running. She couldn't clearly see who she was talking to but was thankful that anyone had come to her aid.

"Deep breath. Tell me again. What happened? Who's hurt?" The woman rested a hand on Weiss' shoulder to try and soothe her.

"Ruby, she's- Over behind the stadium, she needs... someone, she needs help. An ambulance. Please! Hurry!" Her breathing started to level and she wasn't choking on each breath, but her hands shook even more than before. Shock. She was going into shock. This wasn't real. It couldn't be. She wouldn't hurt Ruby. No. She loved Ruby. She would never hurt her. Why did she run? She had to go and help her. Weiss turned to run back towards the direction of her girlfriend but the hand on her shoulder tightened.

"Hey, hey, let's head over there. We need to be there for when the ambulance arrives. Lead the way." The older woman quickly pulled her phone from her pocket and dialed for an ambulance. As she did so, Weiss continued to cry but started leading her towards Ruby.


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey again!**

**A lot of the medical aspects of this fic have been something that I've been researching a fair bit and talking with a close friend who has a background in trauma medical care. Granted, there are fantastical elements to this world, such as dust itself, and I had to make some decisions on how to treat these in relation to medical care. I opted to approach this as the dust as going through a chemical change, changing from dust to element, and therefore the effects of that change happening on someone's skin would cause chemical burns as well as damage from the end result. In this instance, it being ice and frost.**

**I hope this helps explain the why of what I did in the upcoming chapters.**

**2 - Blackened Confusion**

For a time, Ruby's dreams were filled with fire. She wanted to be warm, to stay warm. Everything didn't make sense and she couldn't see where she was going. She felt cold and scared and alone. There were sounds but she couldn't make out their direction. Feelings on her skin, but it all felt like fire. Everything hurt and burned but she still felt cold. Images of Weiss flashed by and she felt a long sadness but wasn't sure why. Ruby chased after the fading image of Weiss. It would only light up momentarily to let her know which direction to go, but as she continued after it, the light would be dimmer each time it lit up, her image a little more faded.

The warmth was always in the distance. Out of reach. And eventually, it burned out leaving her in the darkened world. Alone.

"Please, Weiss," Ruby called. "Please wait." Her legs wouldn't move how she wanted them to. Her body felt stiff and slow.

Ruby woke up once. She thinks. Everything hurt. Her skin was on fire and she couldn't move. No, not that she couldn't move, but something was holding her. She wasn't allowed to move. Every time she tried to scream, it was blocked. Something was in her throat and her eyes couldn't focus. The world was blurred through tears and pain. It wasn't long before a shadowy object obscured her vision and she slipped back into a world of dreams.

"Weiss!" Ruby called. "Where are you?" But Ruby received no answer. It all didn't make sense, but she tried to put things in order. She wanted to get to Weiss, she needed to get to Weiss to clear things up. To feel some amount of comfort. To kill her loneliness. But then she remembered Yang was always there to help her. Yang. Where was Yang? Where was anybody?

"Yang!" Ruby called out, but she got no response. Her body was still slow and stiff and she wandered the darkened dreamscape looking for anyone to help her. Anyone to answer questions. Weiss wasn't there for her anymore, and Yang couldn't be found. Did Yang leave her, too? "Where is everybody?" Ruby sighed to herself. The path through the darkness she walked felt illuminated, but the light source was nowhere to be found. Endless and roiling oceans of inky blackness swelled on each side of the pathway and consumed any and all light that spilled out across them.

What about Blake? Was Blake somewhere?

"Blake!" Ruby called out and again was met with silence save for the oceans. She continued to wander as best as her body would let her. The pain racking her only furthered her determination to find someone or something to ease it. She couldn't feel the tears when she would wipe at her cheeks, but she would swear that she was crying. An odd sensation of a split reality settled into her mind, and Ruby grew more frustrated.

Ruby woke up a second time and the urge to scream remained. Her body was still on fire and she couldn't move. Her eyes still blurred by tears sought out for any familiar sight. Dark outlines of what she assumed to be people were close by, and she swore she saw a flash of gold. Was that Yang? It had to be, but her panic only afforded her another visit with a familiar shadow and she slipped back into the loneliness of her dreamscape once again.

Yang was out there. She felt hopeful that someone she knew was out there. If she could try and communicate next time she slipped into that world again. The world she was in never required her to eat. And she never felt hungry. Only slow and painful. She knew she was crying. There was no other way to explain it. But what happened to the rest of her? Ruby hugged her arms to herself and sat down on the path to think while staring out over the infinite blackness of the ink seas. A curious thought occurred to her and she wanted to test something, even if it might hurt. Ruby scooted closer to the edge of the walkway and hesitated before dipping a finger into the darkness.

Cold. Freezing. Endless darkness whipped into a frenzy around the digits. Ruby felt as if the sea wanted to swallow her whole.

She pulled her hand back to herself. That meant something, but she didn't know what just yet. What was the inky sea hiding?

Ruby stood back up and looked around to see if anything was in sight aside from the endless path and the endless blackness.

Nothing.

"Alright, I keep going then. Or I take my chances in the freezing ink." Neither option was appealing, but she started walking again. The black sea was too much of a risk.

At times, Ruby's body would feel like it was on fire again and everything would feel too much to handle. But that feeling would calm into a general feeling of pain after. A consistent pain. A familiar one.

Ruby got desperate. During one flare-up of searing pain, she tried to claw at herself, but no matter how much she tried, she couldn't do anything. It was as if she couldn't feel herself touching her own body and she fell to the pathway in frustration, sobbing. "This isn't fair," she cried. "Why am I trapped like this? What am I supposed to do?"

Ruby couldn't feel any of the tears on her cheeks despite the sensation of them being there.

The searing pains never left for long. They were always followed by the familiar pain.

Another flareup. "I hate this, I hate this, I hate this, I hate this!" Each utterance of the phrase was followed with a pounding of the ground. The words echoed throughout the plane. The pounding loosened something in the walkway and cracks spread across it. Inky black liquid started to fill the cracks, and the pathway further came apart. Cracks split and spread further down the path. It was coming apart.

"Oh no, oh no," Ruby muttered in a panic. She scrambled to her feet and tried to run to avoid the pathway coming undone beneath her. Her movements only were so fast and she struggled to keep ahead of the disintegration but she began to fall behind. Her foot caught in a crack and she fell forward, arms out ahead of her to soften the blow, but she fell through the walkway and into forever darkness. The searing cold covered her body and she tried to scream, but the cold spread down her throat and into her lungs as well. Every time she tried to breathe to scream again, she was met with more intense burning and freezing.

Pain surged through her whole body. She couldn't remember what had happened, but she could feel pain. Everything hurt. Ruby struggled to sit up but couldn't move. Everything hurt when she tried to move and she could tell there were tubes on her face. An oxygen mask? No, not an oxygen mask. Why did she have this on her, and was it... down her throat? And why was she tied down like this? She tried to talk but couldn't. It was definitely down her throat. Fire. She felt fire in her throat when she tried to cry out and tears formed in her eyes blurring her vision. Or was her vision already blurry? Noise, though. Sound. Was it a voice? Someone was nearby. Yellow. A lot of golden hair filled her vision. Yang! Her sister was there to save her! But the alarms going off. What was happening?

"Ruby!" Yang leaned over her sister and the smile on her face was wide. "You're awake! Oh, you're awake." She sighed with relief and moved to place her hand on her shoulder as she'd always do when her baby sister didn't feel good but stopped. Not yet. Ruby was still too sensitive. "You really scared me. I- I'm glad you're-"

Ruby tried to talk again but was met with an intense burning again. And tried again. And choking. And another try. Panic started to set in and she tried to sit up but moving left her in more pain than before. Whatever was holding her down was stronger than she could break. She didn't understand what happened or why she was in what she assumed was a hospital. The last memories she had were of- Weiss! She started to cry harder. Pieces of what happened came back to her. The argument. The breakup, or what she assumed was a breakup. Was it? It had to be. And then... What happened? Whatever it was probably had something to do with why she was there in the hospital and in pain. Why she felt on fire.

"No, no, no, don't move. Let me- Let me get the nurse." Yang reached for the 'call nurse' button and pressed it repeatedly with impatience while trying to soothe her sister and also wave down someone, anyone, from outside the room. "It's okay, you're okay. They'll be here soon." She whipped her head towards to door to watch for anyone to come in and help. Seeing her baby sister in such a state was hard enough when she was peacefully unconscious, but having her awake and in pain was so much worse than Yang was ready for. Ruby's tears tugged at her heart and she wanted to make it stop. With a sense of urgency, Yang looked back down to Ruby and back at the door, her hair whipping behind her head. Very quickly, a nurse filed into the room and set to work, pressing buttons on a bunch of machines. The alarms ceased. Yang stood at the back end of the bed near Ruby's head, reaching a hand down to stroke her forehead; one of the few places that didn't appear to be enraged from sensitivity.

"Good, you're awake. You had us all worried there." The nurse nodded to Ruby. "I'm Xahn." She smiled down to her and began to administer a shot into the girl's IV. "Your sister hasn't left your side the whole time you were here. But, first things first. Blink if you can understand me." Ruby stared at the woman in confusion but blinked. Her head was swimming trying to process anything and everything. "Okay, now, if you promise to be good, let's get you unfastened and upright now since I'm sure you'd like to see." She reached down to slowly undo the restraints holding Ruby.

With them undone, Xahn warned the girl. "Slow now. And calm." She eased the bed to a sitting position with a simple press of a button. "Okay, good. A couple things to go over since I'm sure you have questions."

Ruby nodded, or tried to, and had to close her eyes from the pain and brightness.

"Easy. Easy. You're going to be sore for a little bit. It's to be expected with the tissue damage you've suffered. But, you should be feeling the morphine here any moment. Aaaand there it is." Xahn smiled as Ruby's eyelids dropped slightly, the effects of the pain reliever medication taking effect and relaxing her. "You seemed to inhale a lot of frost dust in your accident and your throat is going to be sore and irritated for a while, as will your lungs. This is why the breather is there. You're still recovering and we want everything to go as smooth as possible for a faster recovery. It's important to keep it on for now."

Yang gazed down at Ruby again as she listened to the information she had been told a half dozen times and had to repeat at least three other times to family. The reassuring gesture was enough to ease some of the tension in her sister's posture and she sank back into the bed. She could tell this all was too much for her sister to take in and she wasn't fully paying attention. The shock of this wasn't easy for Yang to hear, but she couldn't imagine how hard it would be for Ruby to hear if she would even remember it while being too drugged right then.

"Now, moving from there, you do have a lot of burns across your body. The temperature and dust itself, sitting so long on your skin, was difficult to treat. Your leg is still healing as well. From the accident, it fractured in two places but thankfully wasn't a full break. We managed to put in a pin to hold things in place while it heals. There's a few more scans we need to do to see how your lungs have progressed." Ruby offered only a single nod and seemed as confused as ever. "Don't worry. I'll talk with the doctor and she can get the order in. What's important is you relax. I'm sure your sister has a lot to tell you about. She seems bursting at the seams right now." Xahn laughed and grinned to Yang before leaving the room.

Ruby tried to turn her head to look at Yang but winced. The tube down her throat hurt and felt strange, almost ticklish deep in her chest from the angle, so she stopped. Yang, however, slid around to the side and scooted her chair back up close. "Ruuuubbyyyy, I'm so happy you're awake." Ruby tried to smile, but the breather got in the way of that. "No, no, just relax. It's okay. They said- they said it would be a while before you would feel back to your old self. But, don't worry, I talked with Beacon. It's all sorted and refunded. You can go back when you're ready; the money is set aside for you still. Maybe next semester. How does that sound?"

The whole semester? She had to miss the entire thing? And what about Weiss? Where was Weiss? Ruby stared at Yang in silence and tears leaked from the corners of her eyes.

"It's okay," Yang whispered and swept the hair from her sister's face. "It's going to be okay. You're okay, and when we get you out of here, we'll get you ice cream, and I'll even let you wear my jacket since- Don't give me that look. I know it's you who would steal it and get stains on it."

Ruby frowned at her sister but tried to laugh after. Pain. Laughing hurt, Ruby noted. The world was in a dreamy state of floating and the younger woman struggled to keep her eyes open.

"Sorry, sorry. You're all broken right now. No laughing," Yang teased. "Feeling tired? I see your eyes drooping over there. That shot was the good stuff, huh? It's okay, take a nap." Ruby tried to nod again but only managed to rest her head to the side to look at Yang. The blonde sat and watched as her sister closed her eyes. It was a relief seeing some sense of peace on her face compared to when she awoke. The chances of her remembering any of this later were slim, but Yang didn't mind. She would be willing to explain it to her as many times as needed.

When she was sure that Ruby was asleep, Yang got up to make a couple of phone calls and let their dad know she had woken up.


	3. Chapter 3

**Another week, another chapter. Thank you for sticking with this so far! One thing I'm hoping to do with this is show the different perspectives of things as this progresses and this was the first little bit of that. **

**I'm already seeing the number of anticipated chapters increasing as some chapters I'm having to split so far. In my outline, this chapter and the last one were in the same chapter, but it felt a bit better to split them for the sake of uploads like this and keeping with a schedule since it lets me work in writing, getting some beta reads, and tweak things a little for each one. ****Anyway, I hope you enjoy this week's upload!**

**Guilt is a heavy thing and it can weigh ever heavier the longer that time passes. **

**3 - Of Responsibility and Vexation**

Weiss sat in the waiting room, unsure of what to do. She checked her phone and saw she had a missed text from Winter asking where she was, but she ignored it. Aside from that, she had no net notifications. Of course, her parents didn't bother checking where she was. They had enough going on. She couldn't handle the stress her family was putting on her then anyway. Not when her girlfri- err, ex-girlfriend was laying in the hospital because of her. It was ex-girlfriend. She didn't want it to be, but she felt it for the best. Especially now after what had happened. It had taken her a week and a half to work the courage up to visit the hospital after her first attempt at visiting. She placed her head in her hands and sighed thinking about it. Her stomach twisted into knots.

On the day of the accident, she went with Ruby to the hospital. The ride in the ambulance allowed her to explain what had happened to the paramedics and they managed to open Ruby's airways again. Dust injuries were always complicated. Once at the hospital, the dark-haired girl was rushed into critical care and Weiss was left to wait in the lobby. She couldn't sit. She paced in circles waiting for anything to happen. Within twenty minutes of arriving, Yang had shown up and marched over to her, white as a ghost. "How is she?" "What happened?" The usual questions someone asks about a loved on. Her demeanor changed when hearing details and color rushed to her cheeks again. Pale cheeks flushed with anger. Yang was mad. She blamed Weiss. And Weiss couldn't disagree. She blamed herself, too, but she didn't know what to do. All she could do was leave before Yang's frustrations exploded at her. Outside, through tears and sobs, Weiss called Winter to pick her up, and she hadn't gone back to visit since. At least, not until then.

Weiss looked around the waiting room at the other people sitting. Each one of them seemed to stare off at nothing while they hoped for any news about loved ones. One couple had been there an awfully long time, she recalled. From the little bits she overheard, their son was undergoing major surgery. Another woman was waiting to hear about her sister. An elderly man who had fallen asleep was there for his wife. Meanwhile, Weiss sat and debated going to see Ruby. What would she say? What could she say? "I'm sorry I almost killed you?" That seemed to not cover her actual feelings about it. Even "sorry" didn't seem to scratch the surface of her regrets.

She was working herself up and she knew it. Weiss sighed and stood up. Maybe a lap around the building would help.

Outside, the white-haired woman took a deep breath and followed the sidewalk. Up on the hill behind the main hospital building, the wind blew through the trees and a rustling of leaves could be heard. Warm air blew against her cheeks, and Weiss shook her head. What was she doing there? She saw Yang's car in the parking lot and hanging around was bound to at least attract some sort of trouble if she ran into her. She still couldn't blame Yang for being mad at her. The few seconds of time between her turning and Ruby coming towards her played in her mind over and over. Every day. She could feel her hand moving to dispense the cartridge and she screamed internally to stop. She tried to fight it, but every time it was the same. Each replaying of the incident ended the same way.

Weiss looked up at the sky. Clear blue skies without a hint of clouds anywhere to be seen. Her first few days of classes were uneventful. Sure, she had homework already, but she couldn't concentrate on it. There was still the weekend to catch up on things. She had one day off in the week and she was spending it at the hospital without even going to see her... She sighed again. Her ex-girlfriend. She kicked at the ground when she looked back down. There was no way she was going to let the whole day go without at least trying to stop in. She knew there was a gift shop near the outpatient entrance to the building. All she had to do was keep following the sidewalk around.

A car drove by, slowing down as it approached a corner, and then continued rolling on. The sound was enough to pull Weiss' attention back to where she was going and out of her head. Her chest felt tight when she neared the door to the lobby. Seeing another person inside the gift shop just inside only reminded her of the fact that Yang was probably even more distraught than she was. Weiss approached the doors and they slid open automatically. A blast of cold air washed over her as she stepped through into the air-conditioned lobby. She hadn't noticed the beads of sweat on her brow and neck until cool air blew over her. The hair on her arms stood up while she walked to the small selection of cards and other assorted "get well" knickknacks.

Weiss' phone buzzed. She pulled it out and checked the lock screen to see another message from Winter. "Call me when you get this." Great. Another thing to deal with. She shook her head and slipped the phone back into her purse. Right now she needed to pick out a card for... Weiss thought. Should she send one to Ruby and Yang each? Or would one to the both of them be okay? She wanted to apologize for everything but figured she also should talk with Yang, too. No, the card would be just for Ruby.

The selection of cards wasn't anything impressive. Lots of pinks and pastels. Lots of balloons and flowers. All of the cards weren't anything impressive. She kept looking. Bears and cats. No. None of these. Halfway down, Weiss spotted one that jumped out at her. She picked up the card and smiled. This one seemed right, she thought. On the cover was a dark corgi wrapped in a blanket with a very simple "get well soon" written on the front. The inside was blank. This wasn't overly cutesy, and it didn't seem insensitive, she thought. Weiss took the card to the register and handed over a few bills, shook her head at the offer of a receipt, and walked out to sit in one of the lobby seats to fill it out.

"Let's see..." Weiss pulled a pen from her purse and opened the card. In a very neat and clear script, she wrote, "I hope you feel better soon. I sincerely apologize for everything that happened, and"

She stopped and stared at the card. Was this too formal? Was she supposed to be formal with this? Or would it seem like she didn't care? What was the right message to put for accidentally sending someone to the emergency room? Weiss thought some more before finally adding, "I will work to make things right." How should she sign it, though? Sincerely wouldn't be enough because it sounds like a business letter, plus she had already used it above. She was overthinking this. She quickly added, "Love, Weiss" and closed the card and slipped it into the envelope it came with. With another bout of flowing script, she signed the envelope, "Ruby."

Weiss returned to the gift shop and asked at the counter, "Would it be possible to have this sent to a patient's room?"

"Of course. Do you know the room number?"

"I- I don't. I'm sorry. But, the patient's name is Ruby Rose. You can get this to her?"

"Let's see here." The woman behind the counter tapped a few keys on the computer and furrowed her brow while she read. "She is... yes. We can get that to her. Is there anything else you need us to do?"

Weiss shook her head. "No, just the card, thank you."

"Of course, dear."

Weiss handed the card over to the woman and bowed her head in thanks before turning to leave. With that done, she had to make a phone call to Winter. As she approached the automatic doors to exit, she pulled out her phone again. With a quick tap of digits, she unlocked the phone and quickly dialed her sister.

Of course, Winter had to have her cellphone off. Weiss grumbled to herself and hung up before trying her sister's office. After two rings, the automated system picked up. Without listening to the options she already knew by heart, Weiss tapped in her sister's extension, 1682. It rang again, and again, and again. She was about to get frustrated when Winter finally picked up.

"About time you called me back. Where have you been? You were supposed to meet me here over an hour ago."

Weiss audibly sighed so her sister could hear. "First, I never agreed to meet you, and second, you said to be there at 2:30, and it is only 2 right now." She kept walking away from the hospital and followed a small footpath down to the main road. "So, if you're in such a hurry to have me there, you can pick me up, or you can wait until I walk there. Either way, I'm just leaving the hospital right now."

Winter was quiet a moment.

"What?" Weiss asked.

"I thought we went over this. Father put me in charge of handling that."

"I- I only wanted to send a card." Weiss' response was quiet and her body visibly drooped with her emotions.

"Weiss," Winter's voice softened. "I understand, but this isn't something so easily fixed. For now, you need to keep your distance and let me handle this. They could still press charges."

Weiss slowed her steps and stayed quiet. She didn't want to think about that, but she couldn't argue that she deserved it after everything. She at least felt like she deserved a more severe punishment rather than being told to continue at school and let her family handle things.

Winter sighed. "Alright, I'll pick you up. Meet me at the corner. I'll be there in a few minutes."

"Alright," Weiss replied, still as quiet as before.

Winter hung up.

* * *

Yang stepped outside the hospital room after seeing her sister fall asleep. Several nurses passed by and she nodded with a smile to them, being polite, while digging her phone from her pocket. Despite Ruby's insistence, Yang refused to get a smartphone. Her old little brick of a phone had suited her fine for years, and it held up well enough at work, being dropped, stepped on, tossed around. She punched in a series of numbers before holding the phone to her ear.

Ring... Ring…

Come on, pick up, she thought and tapped her foot impatiently.

Ring... Ring…

Daaaad, answer your phone.

Ring...

"I'm sorry, the person you are trying to reach is unavailable. Please leave a message after the tone."

"Heyyy, dad, she's awake. Get down here. Just, lock up the shop and I'll head back down when you get here. Love you."

Yang hung up her phone and shoved it back into her pocket. It felt good to stand up again. She never realized how long she would sit until she stood up. She stretched and her back let out a series of pops with a smile before returning to the room with her sister. Inside, she took a seat again and settled in, picked up the magazine she had been reading and smiled while looking at Ruby sleeping. She was going to be okay.

A hospital attendant stepped into the room and gave a small wave to Yang. "Hi, I was asked to deliver this. Someone left a get well card for your sister here." She smiled and walked over to hand it to Yang. "You'll make sure she gets it when she wakes up?"

Yang nodded. "Of course. Thank you." Already she could see the handwriting on the envelope and didn't like it. This was a quiet place, and she knew to keep her cool. She smiled in return to the woman as she left. Immediately after, Yang pulled the envelope open to see the card. A dog in a blanket. Under other circumstances, this would be cute, but coming from the person who put Ruby here, it was frustrating. Inside, Weiss' handwriting bugged Yang even more. Make things right? How would she do that? The doctors were already saying that Ruby may have permanent nerve damage in areas. How was she going to make that right?

Unbelievable, Yang shook her head.

Yang ripped the card in half, and then quarters. That still wasn't enough, so she crumpled up the remaining pieces of the card and stuck them into the trash can by the bed. Ruby didn't need this. She was better without this. She stood up to leave the room. She decided she needed to take a walk and clear her head.


	4. Chapter 4

**The next couple of updates might be a bit late. I've got some personal and medical things I'm dealing with and haven't been feeling very well at all. But, I promise I'm going to keep getting out what I can. Hoping to have a lot of this sorted in the next few weeks and be back on track.**

**Anyway, thank you for sticking with me. It's making me really happy to see people enjoying this. Thank you all. 3**

**The journey to recovery is a long one, a painful one, and extremely difficult. It takes a lot of fight and a lot of encouragement.**

**4 - Crawling Up From Ashes**

The left side of her body hurt. It wasn't nearly as bad as it had been before, but the pain was still present and clawing at the edges of her consciousness at all times. Her left hand always hurt. Always. The fire had damaged it beyond salvation and it had to be removed just below the elbow, but it still hurt. She felt the muscles in her non-existent hand tense and flare in pain. The doctors said it would ease over time and she wouldn't feel like her hand was sitting in a bed of embers, but that didn't help with the present pain she felt.

"Cinder, hey, you alright? Should we stop for the day?" A deep sounding voice asked, though with a rich tone of warmth and sincerity.

Cinder's attention came back to her current situation. Her right hand gripped the balance bar for support and she leaned against it. "Oh, sorry," she tried to say but it came out as a raspy breath. She closed her eyes and breathed slowly to let the irritation in her throat pass and tried not to cough. Things would hurt so much more if she coughed. She did everything she could to not cough. When she opened her eyes she looked over at the man next to her. Short, curly, dark hair and olive skin, green eyes, sheep ears. He looked more like a personal trainer than a physical therapist.

"Hey, no, it's okay. We can stop for now. We've been at this a half hour. You shouldn't push yourself." The physical therapist wheeled a wheelchair around and helped ease the girl into it.

The black-haired girl quietly nodded and forced a partial smile out of politeness. The truth was she was angry. Frustrated. Plain mad. Her entire situation wasn't anything she was okay with. The police still couldn't find the perpetrators who started the fire that cost her everything. No home. No family. No friends to turn to. She was stuck in the hospital until the doctors signed her papers that she could leave, but after that? She had nowhere to go. She thought about it a lot. All the time. She dreamed about it and the fire. Just when she had found a place for herself when she had found her grandmother again when she was getting her life on track again... Cinder sighed and slumber her shoulders.

"We'll keep at this and you'll be up and about in no time."

Cinder nodded and forced another smile. It was hard to be in a sour mood with Mister "Check-out-my-cute-sheep-ears" Woolsey and his positive attitude about everything. She tried to speak again but couldn't get out more than a hoarse "aah" sound. She frowned and had to motion for Woolsey's attention. She really wanted to ask for something to drink and hated she had to mime things, but at least it got her message across. No sooner than she motioned to drink something did an open bottle of water get handed to her. She smiled and accepted it before taking a long, slow sip. The roughness of her throat eased and she no longer felt like coughing. Cinder handed the bottle back and silently mouthed out the words "thank you."

"I already messaged ahead. Miss Stephens should be down to bring you back up to your room any time now. So, just take a breather. You did good work today. Definite improvements over where we started the week at." Woolsey took a seat in one of the chairs along the wall as he talked with Cinder. "I think a couple more months of this, and assuming your doctors agree as well, we can get you fitted and move you into prosthetic training."

Prosthetics. Cinder realized that she would probably get something to replace her hand but she always thought it would be way down the line. And only if she could afford it. She was aware that she might be able to collect some sort of insurance policy from the fire and her loss, but it would need to go towards her grandmother's funeral. Anything leftover would have to be for trying to find someplace to live. She didn't know about getting a prosthetic yet, and she didn't know how to express her anxiety about the whole thing.

She didn't have to explain anything because Woolsey could tell from her changing expression. "Hey, I get it. Let's not worry about that now, then. We can focus on the small goals. Leave the big stuff for when we're ready. What's important is we keep at this." He smiled and his ears flicked. Not a moment later, someone else was wheeled into the large physical therapy room.

Cinder craned her neck to get a look at the new person. They weren't anyone she had seen around the hospital before and she wondered what they had happen. All she could really make out was a great deal of wrappings on the person's arms and neck. And a mop of black and red hair. They looked frail, and considering the state they seemed to be in, she thought it could have been a fire they were in, too. She relaxed back into her seat and shook her head, not envying the new person. It was always hardest the first few times. She turned back to Woolsey and nodded her head in the direction of the new person.

"Oh, her? She's new. Don't worry, though. You're still my patient." Woolsey winked and flicked his ears again.

Cinder smirked and rolled her eyes before shaking her head. She tried to think of how to express what she wanted to ask. She raised her hand to her forehead, rubbed it as she thought.

"Look, I get it. New girl, want to make friends, maybe think she's cute. Want to get to know her. I can't tell you who she is, though, or what happened. She is another patient, after all."

With a blush and another roll of her eyes. Cinder shook her head at Woolsey and he laughed.

"I'm only teasing. Anyway, Miss Stephens is here to take you back to your room. I'll see you same time tomorrow?" Woolsey grinned and laughed while Cinder sighed and shook her head before laughing.

* * *

Ruby sat in the wheelchair and didn't want to move. In the time since coming out of her coma, she had scans and more scans and even more scans done until she was sure the hospital could create an entire three-dimensional scale model of her insides. That wasn't factoring in the blood work and other tests. As lonely and awful as her coma was, what she could remember of it at least, it seemed preferable to laying in pain, being miserable for the following week she was in the burn ward, and it's not like the days following were much better, either. She felt humiliated having to have help to even use the restroom. Or eat. Or move. Sitting in the wheelchair, she felt helpless. This was supposed to be time for her physical therapy, but she didn't know what good it would do her. All the physical therapy she did before hadn't made up for the fact she couldn't walk due to both atrophy and a broken leg. Why she had to see a new person she didn't know.

A tall man with dark hair approached her and knelt down next to the chair. His deep voice was soothing and reassuring.

"Miss Rose? I'm Woolsey. I hear you're my new partner in this all. Seems we will be working together for a while. I have an idea of what you're thinking. This all seems like a waste of time. You'd rather lay down and wait for it all to be over. I get it."

The girl simply looked at him and sighed. A lot of things felt like a waste of time now that she was supposed to be recovering. The tight sleeves and wraps the staff made her wear felt uncomfortable. She couldn't walk on her own, or really at all, and here she was supposed to be working hard to learn all of this again. 'Again.' The word stung because it was an indication of her regression of basic motor skills. Despite not being as injured as the rest of her body, Ruby's legs still had lost considerable muscle mass from inactivity. She frowned at Woolsey.

"We'll start things off easy. We're going to get to know each other a little bit and sort out a plan for you. I was told you worked on stretching?"

Ruby stared at Woolsey and lightly shrugged.

"The notes say you were going to be working on gripping next. Did you start that at all? That's the important one."

Ruby shrugged again.

"Miss Rose. I'll be honest with you. I can tell you don't want to be here. My job is to help you not have to come here anymore. We have a similar goal. Did you start work on gripping yet?"

Ruby stared at the man for a long moment, unsure of what to make of him. Her last physical therapist was much less personable in their approach. Finally Ruby nodded and Woolsey smiled.

"Okay, good. Let's get you started with some warm-up stretches today and we can get you gripping again."

Ruby closed her eyes and nodded. She was done with the whole situation and feeling helpless. She was done with doctors and exercise plans and casts and compression wraps and she was pretty sure she was done with her new physical therapist, but she was also stuck with everything. All she could do is keep going, so she did.

* * *

Cinder held tightly to the balance bar to keep upright, but this time she could move. One step at a time, she reached the end of the bar with a satisfied smile. She had done it. After all the time she spent working at it, she could make it to the end. And she didn't even need help. Or have to stop for breath.

"Good, good. You're making very good progress. Next thing we know you'll be back to ballroom dancing."

Cinder turned her head to Woolsey and rolled her eyes with a smirk to which Woolsey simply laughed.

"Seems your sense of humor has recovered as well." The man walked over to where Cinder stood and helped her back into her chair. "I think that's good for today, don't you? End with a high note?"

Cinder nodded and breathed deeply, feeling relaxed to be sitting again. The muscles in her legs ached but she felt confident about it. She felt satisfied with her efforts for the day. Before she could think to ask, the physical therapist was already handing her water. For a brief moment, she reached for it with her left hand but caught sight of herself again. She needed to get used to the small everyday things with only one arm. It certainly wasn't easy.

"Hey, it's alright. It happens."

After taking a long drink, Cinder lightly nodded and handed the bottle back to Woolsey to place the lid back onto. She turned to try and grab her purse from the back of the chair but couldn't quite reach. Woolsey pulled the bag off and handed it to her.

"I got you covered." He laughed. "Though, it seems my next appointment should be here any time now."

Cinder nodded in thanks and pulled her phone from the bag. A message. Her ride was going to be late. She sighed and motioned for Woolsey's attention. She tried to speak and it sounded like a breathy gasp. Cinder frowned and opted to simply show him the message on her phone.

"Not getting picked up for another half hour then? Well, you're more than welcome to stay and wait inside here, out of the heat, but I'll be working with my next patient."

Cinder nodded in agreement to the plan. She breathed easier not having to leave just yet. The wrappings on her leg and what was left of her left arm were tolerable in the cool, but in the heat it made her skin itch and she couldn't get comfortable. Her thoughts wandered as she stared at her phone again, rereading the message. A group home. She was living in a group home. She could hardly believe it, but she also didn't have many other options after getting discharged from the hospital. Cinder knew she couldn't stay at the hospital forever, but she had hoped to stay for a little longer if only to pretend the other problems she had outside the building's walls didn't exist. Her current disability checks would only get her so far and she needed to figure out her financial situation fast.

She shook her head. She was meeting with her grandmother's lawyer later to settle her estate. She could wait until then to worry about it. For the moment, she wanted to relax as best she could. Deep in thought, Cinder hadn't realized the next patient already arrived. The girl with dark hair again. Judging by her bandages, she was also in a fire of some sort, and... something happened to her leg. Was it broken? She couldn't tell. But the girl was fascinating to her. She reminded Cinder of herself when she had first started therapy with Woolsey. She found him to be sickeningly optimistic in his approach to everything. The way he never left her alone, even with how uncooperative she had been. Though, it seemed the dark-haired girl had cracked before she herself did. Why was she staring? That was rude, but Cinder couldn't look away. There was just something about her that seemed familiar. She was positive she had never met her before.

No, she didn't look familiar. Cinder realized she had told herself that as an excuse to keep watching. What was it Woolsey just called her? Was it Rose? Miss Rose is what he said, right? So, that had to be her last name. Well, a last name was better than nothing. She still wondered what had happened to the girl to put her there. It would be rude to ask, though it's not as if she could really ask her anyway. Words were hard enough to make anyway with how damaged her throat was. Though, the girl didn't say a word to Woolsey. Was she just being rude, or could she also not talk? She supposed it didn't matter.

Miss Rose was struggling to pull at an elastic band in her hands. Cinder could tell she really was giving it her all but her body didn't want to cooperate. She dropped the band and looked utterly defeated. That look of sadness and feeling of giving up was all too familiar to Cinder and was hard to see in someone else.

Why was she still staring? Cinder looked down at her phone and opened an e-reader app to continue the book she had started the day before. The words ran through her head but the meaning didn't stick. She looked back up to see the girl looking at her. This was strange. What should she do? Cinder offered a smile and a lazy wave of her hand in greeting. Miss Rose only looked at her and appeared to be deep in thought. Had the girl wanted to say something to her? Did she want to tell Cinder off for staring at her before? Whatever the reason, she felt embarrassed by the exchange and only watched in return. Woolsey broke the staring contest by saying something to the girl. She nodded and tried to stretch the elastic again.

A buzz of her phone tore Cinder's attention away from the girl. A message. It seemed like her ride was there.

As Cinder was being wheeled out, she looked back at Miss Rose only to see her looking back with a look of curiosity.


	5. Chapter 5

**Sorry for the late update! ****I got wrapped up with some personal stuff and didn't have time yesterday to put the next chapter up, but here it is now! **

**I want to thank you all for reading this and sticking with me thus far. It means a lot and all of the views and comments I receive for this is what keeps me going with it. So, thank you. 333**

**Physical therapy continues, and progress is made.**

**5 - Red Meets Red**

Again with the wheelchair. Always with the wheelchair. She hated the wheelchair. Ruby always felt embarrassed to be in the wheelchair because she couldn't move herself around. Relying so heavily on her sister or her dad to get around was enough to make her cry. Though, she found this to be motivation enough to work at her physical therapy. And she was at least out of the hospital. But right now she was in the wheelchair again, going to physical therapy again, and she was ready to cry again.

"Cheer up, Rubes." Yang tousled Ruby's hair. "After therapy, we'll go get ice cream. I'm just gonna run by the shop while you're at your appointment."

Ruby scrunched her nose in annoyance at her hair getting mussed up and tried to smooth it out again, but the mention of ice cream perked her mood up again. Yang had tried to do something to reward Ruby's progress in recovery and started to make a habit of taking her to get a treat after her appointments. Some days it was going out to eat. Others it was stopping to get sweets of some sort. Sometimes they took the long way home and detoured through some of the more scenic roads while listening to whatever it was Ruby wanted. Today, though, it would be getting ice cream... and Yang would make one of Ruby's favorite dinners. She always had a habit of doubling up on the rewards.

Yang continued to wheel Ruby inside and into the physical therapy office. Inside, Woolsey was finishing up with another patient, but he turned his attention to the sisters as they entered. He waved to them to come in while he continued with another girl. Her dark hair in contrast with her pale skin and red shirt drew Ruby's attention. She caught herself watching with some amount of interest as she did her best to walk again. She knew she would be in the same situation eventually, whenever her leg was healed enough. Presently, though, the cast around her leg was a hindrance.

"Alright, I'm gonna run by the shop and make sure dad hasn't let things get too out of hand since yesterday. But, I'll be back soon. Text me if you need anything, okay?" Yang smiled at her sister and made her way outside.

Ruby pulled her phone from her purse and saw she was ten minutes early to her appointment and sighed. Idle time in the therapy room always made her on edge, but it wasn't important. At least she could try and relax for a few minutes before having to push herself. She was thankful to be able to use her hands well enough again, even if she did drop things sometimes. Or, a lot of the time. The compression gloves and wrappings didn't have the same traction as skin and things often slipped out of her grasp. If it wasn't for the rubber case that Yang had gotten her, she would have dropped her phone a lot more. She supposed she should be thankful, though, that she could even use a phone still since without it she wouldn't have a way to even communicate with most people.

Across the room, the other girl sat in a chair and breathed heavily.

"A lot of progress, Cinder. Soon enough you won't even need the crutch." Woolsey smiled.

Her name is Cinder, Ruby thought. Definitely a strange name. She wondered what had happened to her and if the loss of her arm was related to the reason why she was there. Before Ruby could continue her train of thought, Woolsey approached. She had to pretend to be busy with her phone and hope it wasn't apparent she was listening in.

"Ah, Miss Rose. Ready to work those weights again?" He teased and lifted his arms up into a boxer's pose. "Let's get you warmed up with some stretches first, though." He continued over to a cabinet and removed an elastic band and brought over to Ruby. "Let's give this a good couple minutes and we can move on to the one-and-a-half-pounders again. Unless you wanted to give the twos a try today?"

Ruby thought about it and tilted her head side to side in indecision.

"We can try them and drop back down to the others if it's too much."

Ruby nodded. Her feelings about working at this all changed after a week into her physical therapy. When she showed marked improvement and could work her fingers well enough to use a stylus to write, she was ecstatic. She could finally communicate again! No more yes or no questions, or trying to mime everything. If she had to say something, she could get her message across. Hopelessness changed to hope, except her handwriting still prevented communication. She found out that her handwriting, while sloppy on paper, was even worse digitally, so she had to go back to typing messages out. Still, being able to communicate again was a blessing and she took it.

"I also thought we could spend a little bit today with the crutches again. You said it didn't hurt too bad to use them last time?"

Ruby nodded again.

"It's important we keep going with that, then."

Ruby worked with the band, pulling at it, tugging with each individual finger, then all at once. All the while, she thought about how nice it was going to be to walk again. She accepted that her ability to speak would be lost well enough. She even accepted that she may not be able to enter into any of the same sparring and combat training courses she had originally wanted to. But, as long as she could get around on her own, she would try and find something to motivate her again. She had a lot of time to think the past few weeks about everything and settled on that she had to at least try.

Ruby continued to tug at the band.

* * *

Cinder looked over at the new girl. Their two appointments always were one after the other, and because of her late pickup times, she had time to sit and watch the girl work. She did make a lot of progress in the time that Cinder had noticed her. She learned a number of things about her, too. The blonde woman who picked her up and dropped her off was her sister, named Yang. Her name was Ruby Rose. Her injuries had been from something dust-related. Like Cinder herself, she couldn't speak the best in her current condition. Though, she overheard that the girl may never speak again. Cinder felt thankful that her voice would eventually come back, even if it might sound different than it once did.

She didn't know if she should try and introduce herself. Some days, particularly Wednesdays, Cinder couldn't get a ride back to the group home until much later than other days and she was often left waiting for a while after Ruby's appointments had ended. She was thankful that Woolsey let her stay while she waited. Some days she even pushed herself a bit further while she had the time. Cinder was determined to get back on her feet as soon as possible because she didn't like the group home. The sooner she could get on her feet, the sooner she could get out of there... hopefully.

Ruby looked over at her and Cinder offered a slight smile and a small wave. Ruby gave an awkward wave in return before returning to her work. Woolsey had taken the band back and gave her weights to work with.

Cinder remembered the weights. How hard it had been to get that strength back. She didn't envy the girl but found herself feeling awkward about watching her work. She pulled her phone from her purse and propped it in the crook of her other elbow on her left arm to hold it in place. It took her a while of trial and error to find a comfortable way to hold her phone and use it with her remaining hand, but this seemed to work alright. She checked her messages to confirm her pickup time again and, just like she thought, she had a while still. Feeling bored, she opened her e-reader app. Might as well finish the book she was reading. Part two of a four-part fantasy series that one of the people in the group home recommended to her. So far Cinder enjoyed it. The characters were enjoyable enough, the plot entertaining enough, and the romance aspects to the story weren't heavy-handed. At least not yet. She was told that part three really picks up with that, but part four is worth sticking it out for.

Her concentration wasn't what she thought it was and she glanced up to see Ruby struggling with the green weights. Woolsey had bumped her up to the two-pound weights. Rough.

Stop staring, Cinder thought to herself. Just let the girl do her therapy. She sighed. Back to her book.

As she read another couple of paragraphs, she heard a thud as one of the weights hit the ground, and a reassuring voice coming from Woolsey. The green weights may have been a little too much just yet. Cinder glanced up to see Woolsey putting the green weights away and removing a pair of pastel blue one-and-a-half-pound weights instead. Those pastel blue ones were the sweet spot for a while, Cinder remembered.

Back to your book, Cinder reminded herself. But, when she averted her glance, she swore she saw Ruby looking over at her. It had to be because of the looks she was giving her earlier. Great, she thought. She irritated the girl.

* * *

Ruby groaned as she picked the weights up. Why was the other person watching her? This Cinder girl. She didn't know who she was at all aside from her name; she only recognized her from the physical therapy room. If she had her voice, she would have said something, but why didn't the other girl say something? Ruby looked back at Woolsey who knelt next to her.

"Getting tired?" Woolsey asked.

Ruby shook her head but wasn't sure what was wrong. She wasn't tired. Maybe distracted. She looked back over to Cinder a moment and Woolsey followed her gaze.

"Ah, getting distracted with someone else in here? Well, it's close to the end of our session anyway. We can stop here if you'd like."

She looked up at him and nodded with a half-smile.

"Alright. Well, I'll take these, then." Woolsey picked the weights up and started back to put them away. "Your sister said she'd be back soon, didn't she?"

Ruby nodded again.

"Good. You're free to hang out in here. I don't have another patient until four, so take it easy and rest in the AC for now. There's no way I'm booting you girls out into that heat."

Cinder kept staring at her phone. It looked like she was reading and Ruby watched her and wondered what she was thinking all of those times she looked over at her. Cinder looked up from her phone and caught her staring. Ruby looked away quickly and stared at her own phone in an attempt to make it seem like she was doing something else. Out of anxiety, she tapped at an app on her home screen, opening a comics reading app. She glanced up and saw the girl getting up from her chair with her crutch.

Shoot. What was she supposed to do after getting caught? She sighed and looked back up at Cinder as she approached and decided to wait for the inevitable.

"Hey," Cinder tried to speak, but a gravelly breath is all that came out that roughly sounded close to a word but devolved into a coughing fit.

Ruby stared up at Cinder and offered her a small, forced smile and wave of her hand. She thought a second and opened a note document on her phone to quickly type out "Hi" and showed it to her.

Cinder smiled back and searched through the apps on her phone for a similar app to type a response.

Woolsey glanced over at the two girls and laughed to himself. He knew the two would get along and was happy to see them making friends with each other.


	6. Chapter 6

**Sorry for the update being a day late again!**  
**I hit a few hiccups in writing, but I'm still working at it.**  
**It means so much to me that you all are keeping with me on this one. That's major motivation for me to keep going.**  
**Thank you all.**  
**3**

**Ruby's excitement about physical therapy was a surprise to Yang, but she finds out why soon enough.**

**6 - Red Meets Red Pt. II**

Ruby seemed excited to go to physical therapy. Her outlook about going had changed rather quickly, Yang had noticed. Whenever she would ask, Ruby seemed dismissive about the whole thing. She was determined to at least make sure her sister stayed happy about this all. It felt like it had been so long since she saw her this excited. Her burns were healing well. The compression garments she wore seemed to be helping. Her pain was manageable. She already started working with crutches. Even her doctor was impressed with her progress.

"Alright, Rubes, let's get you to your appointment. Afterwards, I'll make us dinner. I'll pick up some stuff at the store while you're there, and how does strawberries and ice cream sound for dessert?"

Ruby nodded enthusiastically at the mention of dessert. Yang was thankful that she knew one way to always get through to her sister.

With a laugh, Yang helped Ruby into her truck. "Alright, alright." She shut the door and walked around to get in on the driver's side. "Want to pick the station again?" Yang asked as she started the truck. Ruby nodded and leaned over to push buttons on the truck's radio while the two took off.

* * *

After dropping Ruby off, Yang sat in her truck and stared at her phone. It had been a while and she wondered if she should message Blake. She hadn't heard from her since right after Ruby woke up in the hospital and, while she wouldn't admit it to anyone, she felt lonely without her around. Sure, the two of them hadn't worked out like she hoped they would, but that didn't mean the part of her heart where Blake had occupied was suddenly healed. She stared at the last message she had gotten from her. "Keep me updated and give Ruby my love."

Screw it. She started typing a message to her.

"Hey Blake, Ruby's doing good. Making progress with her crutches now, and she's been excited to actually go to therapy the past week. Hope you're doing alright." And send.

Yang stared at the message for a minute waiting to see if Blake would reply, but she remembered she had class then. At least, she thought she had class then. Instead, Yang tossed the phone onto the seat next to her and started the truck up. She had to get dinner and she promised strawberries to her sister. She was thankful that their dad was able to take over at the shop the past couple weeks while she took care of Ruby. Despite his seeming lack of involvement in caring for Ruby after the accident, Taiyang opted to instead extend business hours and take on more work to cover medical costs. He and Yang both took on the extra work to bring in more money to ensure Ruby's recovery, but they both thought it best to not let her know. It wouldn't be long before Ruby would have her cast off and be getting around a bit easier on her own. Things would be easier then. Yang wasn't sure of what she would do with herself when that happened, but it would be a welcome change.

As she pulled out of the parking lot, her phone buzzed. She glanced over to it thinking it would be from Blake but only saw it was a message from their dad. Yang shrugged and kept going. She could check it at the store.

* * *

"You got this, Miss Rose." Woolsey encouraged Ruby as she huffed, grasping onto the crutches and taking steps. "Just a few more steps and we can take a break."

Ruby paused and mustered her strength again before taking another step, and another one, and one last step. She had done it! She made it to the end of the room and back. Cinder sat in a chair near the entrance and encouraged her. Despite a lack of cheering, she motioned happily to the girl.

"Even Miss Fall is on your side with this," Woolsey grinned. "Alright, alright. Take a breather. I'll get you some water." He helped Ruby to a nearby chair, leaned her crutches against the wall, and left to grab a bottle of water from a small fridge.

Cinder smiled and walked over to Ruby, sitting in the chair next to her. She pulled out her phone and propped it in the crook of her arm again and began typing. 'Good job Ruby'

Ruby smiled and nodded before reaching into her pocket to pull out her own phone. She quickly typed a message out. 'Thanks. Won't be long 'til I'm able to keep up with you.'

Cinder grinned at the message and typed another one. 'If I'm not careful, you'll be faster than me in no time.'

With a roll of her eyes, Ruby typed out, 'Yeah, yeah. You say that...'

Woolsey returned with a bottle of water and unscrewed the top before handing it to Ruby. She happily accepted it and drank down half of it before handing the bottle back and relaxed back in the chair again. "Alright, alright. I'll give you two a minute, but Miss Rose here still has time left in her session today."

Both Cinder and Ruby nodded.

'Want to exchange numbers?' Ruby tapped out and held it for Cinder to read. The question had been on her mind since the last session they had, but she hesitated then and missed her chance to ask before getting picked up. She looked over at her with a smile and wide eyes. She pulled her phone back and tapped out another message. 'Then we can talk even whenever.' She held it back towards Cinder again with a smile.

Cinder nodded and typed out her phone number for Ruby to add in, followed with, 'text me and I'll save the number.'

Ruby grinned and did just that. Cinder's phone buzzed and she quickly punched in Ruby's contact info. She even snapped a quick picture to save for the address book. Ruby frowned and went to do the same, but rather than take a candid shot, Cinder posed with a goofy grin on. Ruby laughed and took the photo, saving it as the address book photo as well.

"You ready to start the last set of exercises?" Woolsey had approached again, noting the mild disappointment on the girls' faces. "I know, but we should get them done. After that, though, you two can keep talking. Promise." He smiled and helped Ruby to her feet. "Let's get to that wall and back and we can call it good. You've been doing great today." Handing Ruby her crutches and making sure she was stable, Woolsey stepped to the side to walk alongside her.

Ruby furrowed her brow in determination and laughed. She nodded and started towards the far wall. She wasn't going to back down from this; she finally made a new friend and was feeling- she was feeling happy again. More like herself. It only just hit her that the feelings she had were of being normal again. How long had it been since she felt like that? Even the time she was with Weiss before the incident wasn't as easy going as she felt then. That wasn't fair, Ruby thought. But, it was true that things with Weiss had been different after they got to college.

Cinder watched as her new friend made step after step. Her cast didn't slow her down and she admired that. It seemed both of them were making progress in overcoming the fates they were dealt. She smiled and quietly cheered Ruby on.

Woolsey glanced over at Cinder and smiled. The friendship the two had formed made him happy to see. It wasn't often the patients he worked with had the enthusiasm as the two girls did, and he was happy they had made friends. Having someone to at least talk to who understood the struggles was important, he felt. It seemed to make a world of difference in longer-term recovery, too, and he hoped they would be able to keep up their encouragement for each other.

Ruby finished making it to the wall and paused to take a breath as she turned around. Pushed a little too hard, she thought to herself. Had to keep going, though. She looked over to Cinder and gave a silent nod and grin before setting back. She took a step, then another. And she went to take another but she stepped too far, leg slipping out from under her. Woolsey was faster than she fell and caught her, quickly getting her upright again. He held her steady while she got reoriented.

"Whoa there. Want to stop this?" He asked and was answered with a determined shake of her head. "Alright, but at least slow down just a little bit. You've got this."

Ruby looked even more determined to make it back and took a step again. And another. And she found a rhythm to make it back to the opposite side of the room. Cinder stood from her chair and greeted Ruby when she got close, hugging her. Still, Woolsey stood close just in case.

"Excellent job, Miss Rose. We can call it here for today."

* * *

Yang entered the hall of the building and quickly texted a reply to her dad letting him know she was picking up Ruby. When she got to the physical therapy room's door, she saw through the glass window Ruby excitedly hugging a girl she remembered seeing around the therapy room. The grin on Ruby's face made her pause and she hung back a moment, thinking better of entering just yet. She didn't want to interrupt her sister's moment of happiness. Not yet at least.

So, this is why she was so excited to go to therapy all the time, Yang thought to herself. It all was making sense. She smiled and watched a moment longer as her sister typed out something on her phone and the other girl checked hers with a laugh, quickly messaging something back. The sight made her happy and Yang turned to lean back against the wall, out of sight of the window, letting her sister have a few moments longer with her new friend.


	7. Chapter 7

**I'm starting to think I should make Tuesdays my regular upload day now since I keep missing Monday.  
**

**I've also had some personal things that I've been dealing with, but it -shouldn't- impact weekly updates.**

**Thank you all for sticking with me so far. I say it pretty much every week, but I mean it every time. 3**

**I'll think about it later. But for now, here's Chapter 7.**

**Weiss does the opposite of what she's told and learns something she wished she didn't.**

**7 - Gray Hearts Weigh Heavy**

Weiss still felt guilty for everything, and the fact she hadn't heard from Ruby at all since only tore her up more inside. Winter kept telling her to keep her distance, stay out of the way, let her handle everything... But she couldn't keep to the side forever. Not knowing anything about Ruby fueled her anxiety. All she knew was bits and pieces that she overheard Winter mention during calls to who knows who. It could have been Taiyang, or Yang, or even Ruby's family's lawyers for all she knew. It was driving her stir-crazy and it all welled up in her chest. It was on her thoughts and her concentration was lacking in all of her classes.

A full course load of business classes, instructed to take by her father, already didn't draw much interest from Weiss, but the emotional distractions gnawed at her more and more each day. She felt lonely in her dorm room. One day she came back after class to find all of Ruby's things gone. She assumed it had been Yang who came back when she knew Weiss wasn't there and packed everything up. The posters and furniture that Ruby had pinned up weren't there anymore and with everything gone, it left the room with a distinct lack of color and made Weiss feel... empty. The school had said they would assign her a new roommate, but in the weeks after being told that, nothing had happened. Weiss had suspected it was to do with her family's money and a donation made to ensure the accident wasn't made into a big deal. Or it was possible that nobody wanted to a dorm with the rich girl who sent her girlfriend to the hospital.

Weiss sighed as she grabbed her purse on the way out the door of her dorm room. It was her day off and she couldn't spend it cooped up at the school anymore. Homework could wait. She needed fresh air. Or, at the very least, needed to feel the sun on her skin. Despite the late summer heat, being outside and burning up was still preferable to staying inside, cool, and trapped with her thoughts alone. At least outside she didn't feel like the walls were crashing down on her.

"Winter mentioned Ruby had started physical therapy," she muttered to herself as she descended the stairs to the sidewalk. If she had started physical therapy, there was only one place that was any good in the city and it was over at the hospital. Clearly that would be where Winter would tell Ruby's family to take her. She knew she shouldn't do it, but Weiss started towards the hospital. She knew Ruby was going to physical therapy three days a week, and she knew it was between 2:30 and 3:30 PM. She had to apologize to her. For Ruby to not talk to her at all since the accident, she had to be mad at her. At the very least, Weiss wanted to know. Wanted closure. She wanted to see her again more than anything else. Even if she didn't get the chance to be close to her, she wanted to see Ruby again.

The hospital was a fifteen-minute walk from the university and Weiss knew the way by heart with how often she walked past it over the past few weeks. All she would do is look. That's it. Weiss wasn't going to go inside, and she wasn't going to talk to anyone, she reassured herself. There was no harm in simply looking. She set herself towards the hospital and watched all of the cars zip past her as she walked. Blurs of color, all of it nondescript, getting lost in her thoughts. She knew Winter wouldn't be happy that Weiss had gone to the hospital again, but she couldn't get rid of the gnawing feeling of having to see Ruby.

As she approached the side of the hospital where outpatient parking was, she looked around to see if Yang's truck was anywhere around. She sighed with a little bit of relief as she was unable to locate it. It had been long enough that she knew Yang wouldn't be back until the end of Ruby's session, and that wasn't for another twenty minutes, at least. She wiped at her brow with the back of her hand, pushing her bangs up off of her forehead. Weiss was determined to at least look.

She would just look, she repeated to herself. And kept repeating to herself in an attempt to psych herself up.

Weiss approached the building, the side marked for physical therapy, outpatient, and the front kiosk. She pulled open the door to the hall and stepped in, the air inside mildly cooler than outside, but still very stuffy. Halfway down and to the left was a door marked "Physical Therapy" and she paused. Was she ready for this? She clutched her purse and turned to leave, but stopped herself. She had come all this way, she at least wanted to look. Weiss turned back around and approached the door. Through the small window, she saw distinct dark hard with tinges of red. It had to be Ruby. She saw wrappings and... Weiss choked up. She figured the dust burns would be bad, but she didn't know the full extent of what happened. She was sitting in a wheelchair, large cast over one of her legs, and compression sleeves over her arms.

As bad as the sight of Ruby was, her heart raced when she caught sight of the girl with Ruby.

Cinder.

Weiss stepped back from the door and ran, pushing the doors of the hallway open, and kept running. Winter was right. She shouldn't have come. She ran harder without care of where she was going. She needed to get out of there, find somewhere to collect herself. She barely noticed when she ran headfirst into someone and the two of them tumbled to the sidewalk.

"Weiss?"

* * *

Blake smiled and thanked the barista as she accepted her iced green tea. On the side of the cup, she noticed that she even added a small heart after her name. She turned to the barista again and smiled a bit wider. The girl was cute, she had to admit. The little gesture certainly brightened her day. Her ears wiggled happily as she left the coffee shop, stepping out onto the sidewalk of downtown. Her classes for the day were done and she had the day off from work leaving the rest of her day wide open. The faunus girl checked her phone and saw a new message, this one from her roommate saying she would be home late and to not lock her out. She quickly replied, reassuring her, and slipped her phone back into her bag, noting the time of a few minutes to three. She looked up and down the street before deciding to take a longer route back to the school.

Small restaurants and clothing boutiques lined a side street that Blake stepped down. A flower shop had a large display of potted plants on the sidewalk, advertising the end of their "back to school" sale for those wishing to add that extra splash of color to their rooms. She smiled at the shop owner as he watered the racks of flowers. Further down the road, it intersected with a larger main road and wound past several larger shopping centers in one direction, and a larger park just down the road from the hospital in the other direction. Because of the free afternoon, Blake opted to choose the path through the park, wanting to enjoy the shade and trees.

When she turned towards the park and hospital, she heard the distinct buzz of her phone in her bag. She pulled it out to check her notifications only to find the previous message from her roommate sent to her three more times, and she laughed. The girl's reception at the school wasn't ideal in the dorms so she must have tried sending it a couple of times. Blake typed out a quick reply of, "Okay, okay, I got it. Promise." As she was putting her phone back in her purse, she felt the force of someone running headfirst into her, knocking her to the sidewalk.

Disoriented, and with her tea spilled all over both her and the other person, she looked up to see…

"Weiss?"

After high school, she didn't see too much of the girl. Her, Ruby, Yang, and Blake always used to hang out, and they even joked about forming the "RWBY Gang" (pronounced Ruby), having Yang's little sister be the adorable figurehead. But, since graduating, and especially since the breakup with Yang, the four of them rarely saw each other anymore. She didn't know the specifics of what happened to Ruby, either, but she knew that the girl had a major accident and that Weiss was there? Or caused it? Yang was too angry to give her the specifics, and Blake rarely saw Weiss more than in passing so she couldn't exactly ask for details. But... Weiss.

Blake shook tea off of her arms as she sat up. "Are you alright?" With a small groan, she got to her feet and offered a hand down to the white-haired girl to help her up. It was then that she saw that Weiss was crying.

"Hey, hey, it's alright. Come on, let's get you up."

Weiss hesitated before accepting Blake's hand, and even when she was upright again, she wiped at her eyes but looked like she was about to run. "Thank you," she quietly said and knelt down to grab her purse. She then looked around to see where she was, noting she had made it to the street again and was far enough away from the hospital that nobody would see her. The questions of whether Blake was mad at her, too, flashed through her mind and she readied herself to run if she needed to. She remembered Blake and Yang being particularly close, and even being there with the faunus woman seemed to be risky in her mind. Weiss remembered Ruby had mentioned that something happened between Yang and Blake, but she never went into details of what it was.

"Why don't we head back to my dorm and get cleaned up, and you can tell me about what's wrong?"

"A-alright," Weiss responded hesitantly, calming down enough to recognize that Blake wasn't immediately mad at her. "I- I'm sorry."

Blake shook her head. "It's alright. Did something happen? Are you okay?" She placed a hand on Weiss' shoulder as the two of them started walking.

"No. Yes. I- I mean..." Weiss sighed. "I missed her, but I never expected that... Cinder... " Words came out in small bursts and incomplete sentences with her stream of thoughts.

Blake stayed quiet and let Weiss talk things out. She didn't want to interrupt her, only quietly guided her along as they headed back to Beacon. She didn't know what all was going on with Weiss after the incident but figured this had something to do with it. Especially seeing as she had been running from the direction of the hospital.

"I went to see her, and she hasn't talked to me, and I saw her but there was Cinder and I don't know what happened and-" Weiss rambled out, words picking up speed with her racing thoughts.

"Shhh, slow down. Take a deep breath." Blake looked at Weiss again and noted how beet red her cheeks were. She had to be getting dehydrated in the heat, and crying definitely didn't help. "We're almost back to my room. We should get you out of the heat and get you something to drink. You can tell me after that." She reassured the girl and led Weiss back to the campus.

* * *

Weiss eagerly finished a second glass of water and laid back onto Blake's bed, basking in the air conditioning. Being out of the heat and back inside felt wonderful. She knew she might have a little bit of sunburn on her cheeks and forehead simply from how sensitive they still were. She rolled onto her side and looked at Blake sitting in her desk chair, facing her.

"Feeling any better?"

Weiss nodded and sighed. "I'm sorry."

"Ready to tell me what's wrong?" Blake asked with a soft smile and leaned back in her chair.

Weiss nodded again and took a moment to think before speaking. "Winter told me to stay away, but I really wanted to see her."

Blake nodded.

"Ruby hasn't talked to me at all since- since I-" Weiss sighed. "Since I put her in the hospital. And I can't blame her for being mad at me. Or Yang for being mad at me. Or you for being mad at me. I'm mad at me, too. Winter is mad at me. I know father is mad at me. I don't know if mother even cares. People here are scared of me. The school hasn't given me a new roommate. I only see people during classes or when I go out to eat." She curled up and hugged her legs to herself and Blake leaned forward to put her hand on Weiss' shoulder, but Weiss looked at her and scooted back.

"Weiss, hey. I'm not mad at you."

Weiss simply stared at Blake.

"I'm not. I promise. I don't even know what happened, but I know you well enough to know you wouldn't intentionally harm Ruby." Blake scooted her chair closer and reached her hand out again to rest on Weiss' shoulder. She didn't pull away.

"But-" Weiss sighed. "I- I was at the hospital. I went with Ruby in the ambulance. I was in the waiting room when Yang showed up and the way she looked at me when she found out what happened. She was madder than I had ever seen her. And I couldn't deny anything. It was my fault. Entirely. She was so mad. Ruby and Yang haven't seen or talked to me since." She looked at Blake. "I'm sorry. I- I should go." Weiss moved to sit up but Blake pushed her back down.

"You still need to rest. You're not going back out in that heat again."

Weiss attempted to fight it but she laid back down and sighed. Winter had been the only other person she really talked to anymore, so being there with Blake was nice. She didn't even realize how lonely she had gotten being by herself for so long.

"Now, I want to make something clear. I'm not mad at you. I already told you that. Yang... can have a little bit of a short fuse. She can't stay mad at you forever, though."

"I almost wish she would. I deserve some sort of punishment for this." Weiss sighed. "I miss her. I didn't even want- I didn't want to break up with her." She covered her face with her hands and softly cried. "But because of father and mother, I- I felt I had to. And now I ruined her life, and she's spending time with someone who caused major problems in mine. If she's happy..." Weiss continued to cry.

Blake wasn't sure what to say to that but softly rubbed Weiss' side and let the girl cry it out. There was still a lot she didn't know, but if Weiss was this upset about everything, she had a good idea that whatever happened was truly an accident and she had a hard time condemning her for it. She kept quiet and let her cry it out. It was good her roommate was gone for the evening. She would be sure to take Weiss back to her room later that night.


	8. Chapter 8

**I'm incredibly sorry that it's been so long since my last update. A lot has been going on for me because of the quarantine orders and things have been a real struggle. **

**To those of you still with me in this, thank you. It means a lot.**

**One of the main reasons for the lack of updates is difficulties in keeping my medications filled, struggles in contacting my doctors, and all of the effects that played on me. I'm hoping to update more regularly again, though it may not be the same weekly schedule I was at right away. I at least have all of my chapters mapped out and if I'm able to stick to things I hope to finish this sooner than later.**

**I've had a couple of people mention the inconsistency with the beginning and mentions of semblances and everything like that and it's a very valid question. As this keeps going, I'm seeing that it's unnecessary as a whole to have those in there and will most likely, after finishing this fic, go back through with edits and clean some things up as well. I'll be sure to let you all know.**

**Things are difficult right now and I hope all of you are managing alright. Be sure to take care of yourself and also help each other if you can.**

**8 - Gray Hearts Weigh Heavy Pt. II**

Blake awoke with a start. She glanced over to her roommate's bed to see her laying on top of the blankets, still in her dress from the night before. She sighed and rubbed at her eyes, ears flicking from the sound of soft snores coming from the passed out woman. The night before certainly had been long, and not just for the drunk woman who crashed hard after a party. No, she was still thinking about what Weiss had told her the night before. Everything about Ruby and Yang, the accident, it sat heavy in her mind and she needed some tea to wake up. The faunus woman kicked her feet over the side of her bed and stretched as she got up. She shuffled over to the common table she shared and turned on the coffee maker. It wasn't a tea kettle, but hot water was still hot water, and a mug of tea was better than no mug of tea.

While she waited for the water to finish its heating, she prepared a mug, wiping it off with the sleeve of her sleep kimono. Despite keeping the room clean, dust still sometimes collected. She grabbed a teabag from a little basket next to the coffee pot and stuck it in the mug and yawned.

She knew Yang was mad, but she didn't expect a pending lawsuit. Though, she couldn't blame her, either. Medical bills really were a lot of money, and three times a week physical therapy wasn't inexpensive. Blake frowned and turned around to lean back on the table, partially sitting on the edge of it. If what Weiss said was true, though, it sounded like her family was going to cover all of Ruby's medical bills and expenses, plus whatever was lost from having to drop a semester of school. She shook her head. All of the new information she learned the night before felt a bit overwhelming. It could wait until she had her tea and got dressed, though. She was going to meet with Weiss later and could ask her more then.

Blake turned back around when she heard the coffee maker finish and filled the mug with water, letting her tea steep while she got dressed.

* * *

The school cafeteria was noisy like it always was for lunch. Students coming and going, dozens of conversations buzzing all at once into a cacophony of blurred noise. Weiss stared at her meal; a sandwich, a mug of soup, and a small salad. It wasn't exactly the highest of quality, but she was going to eat it anyway. Meeting at the school seemed easiest for both her and Blake. She poked at her salad with her plastic fork and waited while Blake finished buying her food. Blake soon returned with a sandwich and soup as well, plus an oatmeal cookie. She set her tray down at the table before sitting herself down and unwrapping her plastic utensils.

"Always so busy here," Blake mused as she started on her soup.

Weiss looked up at her and forced a half-smile. "Yeah." An awkward silence fell over them and Weiss picked at her salad, eating small bits and pieces while she thought of how to approach the topic she wanted to discuss with Blake. The talk from the night before left a lot of things unanswered and, after crying on her bed off and on for most of the evening, Weiss felt she owed Blake an explanation better than the broken fragments she got out. "Um, last night," she started and looked back up at Blake. "The thing about Cinder..."

Blake shook her head. "You don't have to explain if you don't want to. It's fine."

Weiss sighed. "No, I want to. It might be good to tell someone. The scar over my eyes, I said before that it was from a fencing accident, but there's more to it than that." She watched Blake to see her reaction. Already it looked like she was putting it together. "Yeah, but it's not as simple as it seems. She and I were in the same fencing class, and we were good, too. Always competing for first. We'd usually get matched against each other in tournaments, too. We were practically rivals."

Blake had stopped eating and sat listening to Weiss talk. She could see the level of frustration on the girl's face as she spoke.

"There was a regional championship and the winner would go to a national tournament. I can't remember what the prize was, but we both wanted that. I would stay after classes and practice, but then she started doing it, too. Which was fine, but after a while, we would argue and either my mom or her grandmother would step in and break it up. Sometimes we would spar, but Cinder would get so worked up about it. But..." Weiss paused and placed a hand over her eyes for a few seconds, collecting herself. "It's not like I didn't take it extremely seriously, too, but I always made sure to follow proper technique and safety guidelines. Always with the dulled foils. Always. But one time... Cinder took one of the non-dulled ones and started to spar with me. We weren't wearing safety gear."

Blake's brow furrowed in concern.

"She got me in the face, over my eye, and I-" Weiss stopped and closed her eyes as she worked herself up to say the rest. "I ran and grabbed another of the non-dulled ones only to have her chase me, but I got her shoulder and she dropped the foil. When our families found us, we were fighting in the floor, blood was all over. We both were instantly disqualified from the tournament and banned from competing ever again. But it doesn't really end there." She looked at Blake and sighed.

Blake wasn't sure what to say in response to that. She had wondered before why Weiss never competed despite being extremely talented. "There's more to it?" she asked, feeling worried about where the rest of this might go.

Weiss solemnly nodded. "There is. We also went to the same junior high school at the time, too. We didn't get along, even before the fencing incident, but she took things too far. We would fight at school, and she even broke my finger once. She's the reason I couldn't get the fencing scholarship I had been planning on. She's the reason my left hand aches when it's cold. And she's the reason I have my scar. Father was not happy with me since then, and I've always been a disappointment to him since." Her brow furrowed in frustration and depression, her shoulders slumped, and she sighed. "I was so happy when she moved. I thought that maybe, just maybe, I could start to make things better and father wouldn't be so disappointed in me, but it seems it was too late. And now she's back, and Ruby is spending time with her."

Blake sighed. "Weiss, that sucks. But, it's not like you're fully alone in everything. You're welcome to hang out with me, at least." She reached a hand over to touch Weiss' wrist. "I'm not sure what else to say to that. I think-" She stopped and chose her words carefully so as to not upset the white-haired girl further. "I think that it's going to take more time before you can work on mending things. It's all still so fresh and everyone is still so sensitive."

"I guess you're right," Weiss answered and leaned forward, hands over her eyes. "I'm not feeling up for classes right now. Would it be alright if I stuck by you for a bit?"

"Sure, of course. I've got work in about an hour, but you're welcome to come by the bookstore with me."

Weiss slid her hands down over her face and nodded. "I'd like that. Thank you."

Blake's stomach growled and she lightly laughed. "We should probably eat first, though." She picked up her sandwich and dipped a corner of it in her soup before taking a bite.

"Yeah, you're right," Weiss said quietly and forced a smile. She proceeded to poke more at her salad with a plastic fork before taking a bite.

"After this, let's stop by the coffee shop on the way. I'll get you whatever you want," Blake offered. After everything that happened, and everything that was going on, Weiss was still her friend, and she wasn't going to abandon her. And despite the circumstances, she was relieved to see her again.


	9. Chapter 9

**(A/N: Sorry for uploading this without the line breaks. Should be all fixed now.)**

**9 - Mundane Flow**

Another Friday and another hot afternoon waiting for Ruby to finish her physical therapy. Yang sat in her truck in the parking lot. She had finished running her errands during her sister's appointment, and even though her appointment ended in ten minutes, Yang liked to go in about ten after to give her an extra few minutes with her new friend. She was thankful that Ruby had made a friend since it really boosted her spirits after the attack. No... Incident. Accident. She rolled her eyes. Ruby had asked her to not call it an attack. They never talked about it more than that, but she could tell that Ruby still had a lot of that day weighing on her. Yang wasn't sure, but she suspected that Ruby still blamed herself for things. Yang shook her head and leaned it back against the seat, staring up at the ceiling.

If the Schnee family hadn't stepped in to pay for all of the medical and therapy bills, Yang was fully prepared to sue them. Ready to press criminal charges against Weiss. She didn't understand why things happened, what happened between them, and Ruby never opened up about it. But what hurt more than anything to Yang was the feeling of betrayal. Weiss was her friend. Ruby's girlfriend. How could she have done something so... Ugh, don't think it. She groaned in frustration. Intrusive thoughts trying to make jokes to lighten the situation. Wordplay wasn't going to make her feel any better. She looked back at the clock and only two minutes had passed.

Yang pulled her phone out of her pocket and started a new text message. She figured she should let their dad know they'd be back on time and she could head back to the shop after she dropped Ruby off at home.

* * *

It had been a long week since Weiss ran into Blake outside the hospital, but she had started to feel better in some regard. It was nice to see Blake again, and she realized how much she missed the whole group they used to have. The four of them were practically inseparable for so long that everything felt hollow without them all together again. But, the time she spent with Blake kept her mind off of the depressive focus she had on the past. It let her remember the better times and also helped her get through each day without breaking down. Between Blake and Winter, Weiss didn't know what she would do to continue on.

Winter. She always had Weiss' back, even when they were much younger.

Weiss took a seat in the study area of the book store as her mind remembered everything Winter had done for her.

Several times, Weiss recalled, when their mother had been drinking and was sleeping away the afternoon, their father would berate her and her sister for the smallest things. The one time Weiss had gone into his office without permission, she had accidentally knocked over a stack of books and she was sure that Jacques was going to physically hurt her. Winter had stepped in and stopped him. Convinced him that he had told Weiss to find him after her chores. Ever since they were little his memory had issues and Winter was smart enough to use that to spare them. It didn't do much to stop the yelling, though. Or the threats. The insults.

The girl stared at the table in front of her for a long while as she thought about her family. She was thankful that Winter was being the intermediary between her and their father. In the years since their mother became sober, she had tried to step up more in defense of Weiss and her siblings. Jacques had threatened to send Weiss away to a college across the country and make the situation at Beacon disappear, wipe it over with money and hush everything up. Willow managed to calm him enough to not send her away, and Winter was doing damage control to make sure Jacques stayed out of things while she handled dealing with Ruby's bills and family.

A hand on her shoulder snapped Weiss' attention back to the present and she appeared startled.

"You alright?" Blake's voice was calm and comforting. Soothing.

"Y-yeah," Weiss answered.

"My lunch break's in a couple minutes and I was going to head over to the coffee shop again if you wanted to join me." She smiled and let her hand rest on Weiss' shoulder.

Weiss nodded. She appreciated the chance to get out of her head for a bit and coffee sounded amazing right then. "Of course," she said and smiled up at Blake.

* * *

Ruby quickly tapped out a text to Cinder and sent it. She looked over at her as the two of them walked outside, waiting to see her reaction. Cinder's expression turned to a confused frown before she started laughing, shaking her head in disagreement. Ruby, in turn, started laughing.

Seeing her sister exit the building, Yang started her truck up and got the air conditioning going. She watched as the two girls hugged and waved at each other while going separate ways. Cinder climbed into the shuttle to return to her housing while Ruby walked towards Yang and the truck. Yang leaned over and opened the door, gently pushing it open so her sister could simply climb in and not bother with the handle, surely too hot to touch after sitting in the sun.

Ruby tapped out another message and sent it before sticking her phone in her pocket and climbed into the truck.

"Your appointment go alright today?" Yang asked.

Nodding in response, Ruby smiled. The faint buzz of an alert on the younger girl's phone prompted her to pull it out and check her messages. She looked to be laughing and she quickly sent a reply.

Yang laughed and reached over to tousle Ruby's hair. "Well, buckle up so we can get you home. Dad should be home early tonight and I told him to bring home a pizza on his way."

Ruby looked up at Yang with a wide-eyed expression and grinned. She looked like she had something to say and Yang cut in.

"And the parmesan bread-sticks you like. I didn't forget."

Ruby made a fist and motioned joyfully before getting her seat-belt on.


	10. Chapter 10

**(A/N: Sorry for uploading this without the line breaks. Should be all fixed now.)**

**10 - Exposing Red**

Cinder furrowed her brow in concentration. It had been a week since she had been working with the prosthetic and it was still difficult to get it to work for her. Woolsey stood next to her to keep her motivated and instructed her on the finer points of its use, but there was still a barrier that Cinder had to get her mind to cross to use it. Either her movements were short twitches that didn't quite do what she wanted them to and barely moved, or they were rapid spasms of every digit at once. Something about the control of it was holding her back.

* * *

Control was a difficult concept for Cinder. A lack of control is what had gotten her into trouble in the past. It's what her grandmother struggled to teach her, and for a time she was getting it. She was understanding control in many facets of her life. Impulse control, emotional control, and motivational control. Being unable to properly reign in her emotions and impulses based on those emotions landed Cinder in many situations that she regretted later, and finding motivation outside of feelings of desire or spite didn't come easy, but her grandmother didn't give up on her. She was understanding and patient. As long as Cinder tried, she was going to be proud of her. And Cinder tried.

Losing both of her parents left a lot of unresolved feelings. Cinder struggled ever since losing them. The feelings of abandonment set in and made her angry. She wondered if she did something wrong shortly after it happened, and then as she got a little older she felt that everything wasn't fair. No matter how hard she tried, it wouldn't be enough. People would still leave her, people would still be better than her, and people were mean. Her grandmother tried her best to help the hurting child that she had become, and for a time things had managed to get better. Cinder's anger subsided, she did better in school, she wasn't getting in trouble as often, and her grandmother noted that she seemed happier. She felt in control.

The fire that took her grandmother, her home, her arm, and everything she owned shattered those feelings of control, but rather than her anger exploding outward, it made Cinder feel like she was imploding. Collapsing in on herself. Everything was a struggle and she wanted to give up. Her days became a blur of not knowing which way was even up or down. She wasn't sure how long she had been in the hospital, but it was long enough for it to feel like a new home. But then that was taken away and she had to leave, but with nowhere else to go she was placed in a group home. Two homes in a short time had been taken from her and Cinder was forced to live somewhere she didn't feel comfortable.

Days all blended together and it was doctor appointments and lawyers and therapy and physical therapy and Cinder started to lose herself in everything, shutting down and moving inward.

Another day, another series of motions to go through, and it always ended alone in her room. Because she was left unable to speak from her injuries, people outside of the hospital assumed she could speak in sign language, but they were both wrong and knew nothing about sign language. Having only one arm was a major limiting factor. Not being able to communicate, not being able to relate or express, not being able to get out more than very simple expressions was alienating.

Cinder felt alone. Frustrated. Depressed.

But then…

Along came Ruby.

* * *

Mechanical clicking and whirring filled the room as Cinder tried again to get the prosthetic to do what she wanted it to. All she needed to do was pick up a ball and put it into a hole, but the finer movements of such a task were almost too much for her. She had been working with the mechanical appendage for over an hour and was feeling mentally exhausted.

"We can stop here if you'd like," Woolsey told her. "No need to strain yourself. You're already doing swimmingly."

Cinder sighed and relaxed, letting her focus dial back. In response, the mechanical appendage slowed its movements and stopped.

"I almost ha-" Cinder cleared her throat. "Had it." She finished speaking and coughed, wincing as she did so. Her voice sounded raspy and just the small sentence was enough to make her throat feel dry and scratchy.

Woolsey quickly handed a bottle of water over which Cinder accepted with an appreciative nod before taking a drink. "You did. You'll have this thing mastered in no time at this rate, but we shouldn't push things too much too soon."

Cinder shook her head while unfastening the prosthetic. With a metallic click, she removed the forearm and hand from her left arm and placed it in the open case on the table next to her. "I'll be. Fine." Her words were split up so as to not aggravate her throat. While she was healing and was able to make words again, she still needed to go slow.

The opening and closing of the door interrupted the interaction and Ruby made her way to a chair and carefully sat down. Both Woolsey and Cinder turned to greet her but she was looking down at her phone with headphones in. The two looked at each other and laughed.

"Alright, well, we can come back to this next time. She's still got about fifteen before her session is to start and I'm sure she'd appreciate a little pre-therapy encouragement." Woolsey laughed and nodded his head towards Ruby, giving Cinder the okay to head over.

* * *

Cinder watched as Ruby typed out a long message on her phone. The two of them finished their therapy for the day and were waiting for their respective rides to show up. She wasn't sure what to expect since this was the first time asking about her accident. The two of them hadn't talked much about how they got their injuries, only their struggles in getting over them. Ruby had only told her it was an accident involving chemical burns. And, to be fair, Cinder had only explained that hers were from a fire. But, after all of the time they had spent talking, learning about each other, sharing, it seemed only natural that the topic of the specifics regarding their injuries was going to come up.

Cinder's phone buzzed. She saw Ruby turn to look at her with an expression she wasn't sure how to read. It wasn't sad and it wasn't scared. She looked down at her phone to read what she had said.

'I got hit with a blast of dust in close range. It was an accident, I think, but the whole moment is very fuzzy. I was going after my girlfriend and I remember everything burning and freezing. She was... she was being very vague and was breaking up with me, I think. No, she was. After waking up in the hospital from my coma I kept thinking about it and I still don't know what changed. We were fine but right when school was supposed to start, she said she had to leave me.'

It took a few reads to try and fully understand Ruby's message before Cinder looked back up at her. The expression Ruby had made more sense to Cinder. It was a mix of confusion and concern. She could tell the whole incident still weighed on her, especially the not knowing. She felt herself lucky that the fire which took everything from her wasn't anyone's fault. It made the acceptance of it that much easier to digest. But Ruby...

Cinder tapped out a reply.

'That's... that's awful. I'm sorry. I'm glad you're still here, though.'

She looked to Ruby and offered a soft smile. When Ruby looked up from her phone she returned the expression and nodded before replying on her phone again.

'I'm glad I'm still here, too. But I still don't know why it happened. She got a call from her sister and then suddenly we were through. I only heard it had to do with their dad.'

Cinder thought a moment of how to word her next reply. She didn't want to say anything which could upset the girl next to her.

'Was her family not supportive of your relationship? Of her dating another girl?'

Ruby shook her head before replying.

'Her dad wasn't, but this wasn't that. Weiss already figured everything she did wasn't going to be enough or approved of by her dad. This was something else.'

Cinder read the message multiple times and frowned. She felt her stomach drop and a tightness swelled in her chest at the mention of Weiss.

'Excuse me'

She stood up from her chair and exited the therapy room into the hallway to collect herself.

In the hall, Cinder's hands shook and she crouched down, leaning back against the wall. She thought she was done with having Weiss in her life. It had been years since she really thought about her, and now here she was somehow intervening in her life again, albeit indirectly. There's no way she could escape the Schnee family in that city, what with her father owning one of the largest corporate businesses, but Cinder had hoped it would be possible.

Deep breaths, Cinder told herself.

Why did Weiss have to go to the local college? Couldn't her family afford to send her to some prestigious school somewhere? Somewhere far away? Somewhere that Cinder could forget about that unstable part of her own past and let it be done with. She had worked so hard at moving past everything.

Slow, deep breaths.

Cinder stood quickly and spun around, fist raised and ready to hit the wall, but she stopped. Thoughts of her grandmother came to mind and she stopped. Instead she opened her fist and placed her hand against the wall with a soft slap and rested her forehead against it.

I'm sorry grandma, Cinder thought. I miss you.

Her eyes watered, tears squeezing out from the corners of her eyes as she held them shut tight. She went to raise her other hand to hit the wall but no contact was made. Cinder had momentarily forgotten about the missing appendage and crouched down again to cry into her knees.

It was then that she heard the door open and close. Soft metallic clicks from crutches being used alerted her that it was Ruby and she didn't want to look up. Ruby shouldn't have to see her like that, but Ruby didn't leave. She leaned down as best she could, holding onto one crutch, and set her hand on Cinder's shoulder, but she only shook her head. Ruby didn't give up and gave the girl a slight shake to try and get her attention. When she let go and re-positioned herself to a more stable standing position, Cinder wiped her eyes and looked up at her. Ruby was already typing out a message on her phone and Cinder's phone buzzed. She quickly picked it up from the ground next to her, not realizing she had dropped it.

'Hey, what's wrong?'

'I'm okay. Don't worry about it.'

'No, really, what is it? Was it something I said?'

Cinder shook her head and wiped her eyes again and looked up at Ruby, shaking her head. "No," she spoke, voice raspy. "It wasn't you." She coughed and tried to clear her throat. All of the talking she had tried doing earlier had left her throat feeling raw and dry so she shook her head again and switched to typing once more. 'It wasn't you. It's... Weiss.'

Ruby looked at the message, glanced down to Cinder, then back at her phone before replying. 'Was it that she did this to me? Because I'm not mad at her about it anymore. Just... hurt and confused. But I had a lot of time to think about it and really, I'll be okay.'

'There's what she did to you, but there's also things that happened years ago. I'm not ready to tell you about it yet.'

'Oh, um... okay.' Ruby shifted her phone to her right hand and reached out to Cinder with her left to help her up. Cinder hesitated, but when Ruby offered her a smile she sighed and accepted the help. She wrapped her arm around Cinder, pulling her into a hug. She let her crutches fall against the wall where the slid down to the floor and she balanced on her good leg to hug Cinder with both arms.

Cinder didn't know what to do at first. The hug was entirely unexpected and wasn't something that she was used to. Or, hadn't been used to for a good while. Not since her grandmother passed. She hesitantly wrapped her arms around Ruby in return, also helping stabilize her, and hugged her back. The first thing she noticed was how soft the fabric of Ruby's shirt was, followed by how soft Ruby felt. And warm. It was... comforting. Her eyes began to tear up again and she held onto Ruby tighter. She didn't realize how much she had missed the reassuring comfort from a simple hug. Cinder closed her eyes and held onto the shorter girl not wanting the hug to end.

Ruby tilted her head to look up at Cinder but seeing her crying again put a sad look on her. She reached up to put her hand on Cinder's shoulder to get her attention and finally she opened her eyes, looking embarrassed.

"I'm okay," Cinder whispered, careful to not overtax her voice. She then noticed that Ruby didn't have her crutches and looked to see them laying on the floor. "Hold on," she said and turned to crouch down and pick them up. Ruby kept a hand on Cinder's shoulder to better keep upright but let go and got situated on her crutches once more when Cinder handed them back. She looked to her phone and tapped out a quick message.

'Feeling any better?'

Cinder felt the buzz of her phone and unlocked it to read. She nodded her head, not looking up at Ruby just yet, and typed out her reply. 'I am a little bit. Thank you.'

Ruby smiled as she watched Cinder nod and reply. She read her response and typed one of her own. 'Let's go back inside and get you something to drink. I know I always need some water after I cry.

With another quiet nod, Cinder stepped over to reach for the door and pulled it open, letting Ruby head inside first, then followed her in.


	11. Chapter 11

**(A/N: Sorry for uploading this without the line breaks. Should be all fixed now.)**

**11 - Shades of Normalcy**

'Hey Red, what are you up to?'

'What did I say about calling me that?'

'I know, I know, but you turn red when I call you Red and it's cute.'

'Alright, if that's how you want to play it Cinny'

'Okay, you win. I'll stop. But really, what're you up to? You busy?'

'Just hanging out at my sister's workshop. Why? What's up?'

'Nothing. Sorta. I just…'

'It's alright. What's wrong?'

'I keep having these nightmares and they won't stop. I haven't been able to afford to see my therapist in weeks now, and it's lonely at the home here.'

'I'm sorry. If you want, I can talk to Yang and see if we can help with your appointments.'

'No! No, that's… not why I messaged you. I just wanted someone to talk to. I thought maybe I could tell you about them and get them out of my head, if that's okay?'

'Of course, Cin. I said before that you can tell me anything. Your secrets are safe with me! I couldn't tell them to anyone even if I wanted to.'

'You dork lol, but alright. We kinda got sidetracked the other day when we were talking about how we got our injuries because of my, uh…'

'Hey, it's alright. Really.'

'Anyway, I didn't get a chance to tell you about mine. I told you before it was a fire, but it's also how my grandma passed. Our rooms were on the second floor and the fire happened at night. By the time the smoke alarms woke us up, most of downstairs was on fire.'

'Oh… Oh no… That's…'

'Yeah. It wasn't good. I went into the hallway because I was confused and wanted to figure out what was going on, but grandma wasn't out yet so I went to check on her. She was just getting up so I rushed to help her. She got her cane and we went to go downstairs and get out, but the stairs were smoldering. The fire hadn't fully spread up them yet but it was trying, so we quickly went to get slippers, the ones with the rubber soles so we could try and get down the stairs to the front door without burning our feet too bad.'

'Did that work?'

'It didn't. Grandma grabbed the small fire extinguisher she kept in her bathroom and was trying to stop the burning enough on the stairs so we could get down, but the stairs gave out and we fell into the storage closet beneath them. A bunch of stuff fell on us, but grandma had a bookcase in there that fell over and pinned my hand. I panicked and was trying to get out but I think it broke my hand or wrist or something, and parts of the stairs must have fallen on it because it wouldn't budge.'

'I'm sorry.'

'Don't be, you didn't do anything. But grandma must have seen my arm because she immediately started trying to reassure me. She wasn't trying to get me out. I don't think she could with her hip, especially after falling. Instead she told me to curl up and laid on top of me to protect me. I don't know how long we were there like that, but she didn't stop telling me everything was going to be okay.

'That's awful.'

'I must have blacked out from the smoke because I only remember waking up in the hospital. Apparently we were spared the worst of it. Something about the pipes and way the stairs fell. I can't remember. I lost my hand and part of my arm and still had major burns, but grandma broke three ribs in the fall and it poked a hole in her lung. Between that and all the burns and the smoke, she only lived a couple days on the ventilators before she passed. She wasn't getting enough oxygen.'

'I'm so sorry'

'Don't be. Anyway, that's how I got my injuries. But, I keep having nightmares where I'm pinned and can't get out and my arm hurts so badly that I'm crying and I wake up in a sweat and crying and my arm hurts but I know it's not there anymore. They start like normal dreams but I wind up getting pinned and a fire breaks out and I keep hearing my grandma's voice, pained but still trying to tell me it's okay. And I hate sleeping and I keep waking up and I don't know what to do anymore.'

'I'm not sure what to say, really. But if it helps, I'll turn the volume up on my phone at night and you can message me anytime. I'll talk with you at night when you can't sleep.'

'Thank you, Red. That means a lot.'

'I mean it.'

'I know you do. Thank you. Hey, um… It's only 1 right now. There's a shuttle that goes into town at 1:30 I can catch if you wanted to maybe do something? We can go get a coffee or something?'

'Yeah! Lemme go tell Yang! brb'

'Alright, I'll get ready then'

'Yang said it's fine and even gave me some lien so we can get something to eat later, too'

'I'll be there in a little bit'

* * *

Cinder slid on a pair of short denim shorts over her compression wrap, not bothering to try and hide it under her pants or a skirt this time. She liked her shorts and thought they were cute; she wanted to make the effort to look cute that day. She dug through the pile of clothes on the chair next to her bed looking for the right tee shirt and finally settled on a black one with an arrangement of three cactus blossoms across the chest. She ran a brush through her hair before pulling it back into a messy ponytail.

The skin on her cheek still felt sensitive, even after healing as much as it did, and Cinder was hesitant to apply any makeup because of it. The mirror felt intimidating while Cinder checked her skin, the healing side of her face and neck always stood out as a visual focal point to her. Whether it was the same for others she didn't know, but she felt her own eyes always drawn to it. With a sigh, she let her ponytail down and shifted her hair to the left side to help cover her scarring. With the help of bobby pins, Cinder fixed it in place and checked herself in the mirror again.

"That's better," Cinder whispered to herself with a light smile before grabbing her small messenger bag and headed out the door.

* * *

The shuttle ride was quiet except for whatever current hits radio station the driver turned on. Four people needed to head into town and Cinder joined them. She stared out the window as they passed streets and businesses, all being a blur as she thought about what she and Ruby would actually do when she got there. The sound of the turn signal broke the background sound of the music and Cinder glanced around seeing they were turning into the parking lot for a doctor's office. Two people got out of the shuttle.

Cinder's phone buzzed and she pulled it out of her pocket. A message from Ruby.

'All ready for when you get here!'

Cinder couldn't help but smile at her enthusiasm and replied. 'I shouldn't be too long. Maybe 15 minutes.'

'Okay!'

Staring out the window at the two people entering the doors to the office, Cinder began to zone out. She hardly registered the shuttle moving again and the scenery moving in front of her. Thoughts of how strange things had become lately entered her mind. Perhaps it was her nightmares and fitful sleep getting to her, but she was thankful that Ruby was there for her. She knew she had to tell Ruby about what happened with Weiss eventually, but not yet. The fire was still so fresh on her mind and everything from before that could wait.

At the next stop, someone else got off and the shuttle started moving again without much wait. Cinder recognized the businesses around and could tell it wasn't going to be too much longer. Among all of the annoyances of living in the group home, the fact it was so far removed from downtown and the drawn-out schedule of the shuttles was one of Cinder's biggest gripes. Days without physical therapy she often didn't leave because of this, instead, she was spending her time reading in her room. Cinder sighed and continued staring out the window the rest of the ride.

* * *

Ruby sat on the couch in Yang's office, the sound of machinery echoing through the building from the other room. Her sister was busy fixing up a client's car. Ruby didn't know what was wrong with it but Yang seemed to think the fix would be easy, though she had spent most of the day working solely on it and cursing, growing more and more frustrated. She didn't exactly know where their father was, but he was supposed to come in soon and take over and close the shop. Ruby looked out the door to see her sister under the car and stopped to watch her absentmindedly while waiting for Cinder to show up. She spaced out, letting her mind wander and try to find patterns in the sound from the machines and didn't hear the bells of the front door sounding out. It wasn't until Yang stopped and slid out from beneath the vehicle that Ruby came to again wondering what was going on. She looked around to see Yang walk to the front waiting area then heard her call for her.

With a bit of a start, Ruby got to her feet with her crutches and quickly made her way to the front assuming Cinder had gotten there only to find out it was their dad. He came back from the store and set two paper bags down on the front counter. "Hey girls, I got dinner!" He called out, and when he saw Ruby enter he grinned. "There you are. I grabbed stuff to make sandwiches, and I got cookies for dessert. The brand you like."

As Yang entered the front room she wiped her hands on a towel. "Hey dad."

'Oh, um, I'm actually going to be heading out soon,' Ruby typed out on her phone and held it up for her dad to see.

"You're heading out?" Taiyang seemed a bit surprised at that. "Hey, Ruby's heading out?" He turned to Yang. His concern showed on his face.

"Yeah, I said it was fine. Seems she has a date." Yang cheekily smiled and glanced at Ruby who was immediately blushing.

'It's not a date!' she protested, typing as fast as she could. Once she was sure both her dad and sister saw it, she typed another message. 'At least, I don't think it is.' The second message she held up for only Yang to see. When she was sure her sister read it, she typed more. 'Is it a date? Am I dressed right for it if it is?'

Yang smiled and tousled Ruby's hair. "Hey, I was only teasing. You look fine either way."

Ruby seemed to relax from the reassurance and fixed her hair with a mildly annoyed pout on her face.

Taiyang still seemed puzzled. "Do we know this person? It's not that one girl, is it? Graduated with her, red hair, broke the chair that one time when she was over. The… the, the… Valkyrie girl."

"Nora? No. It's someone she met at the hospital. Cinder, right?"

Ruby nodded and looked between Yang and her dad.

"Alright, well, still. Stay out of trouble." Taiyang turned back to the bags on the counter and started unloading what he bought.

Yang nodded to Ruby to let her know she could head back into the office again. Ruby could hear her sister and dad talking about something, but when she closed the door it was quiet again. She always tuned out when it came to what her dad and Yang had to say about things since it almost always pertained to the shop. The shop was their thing. Ruby's interest in all of that was slim at best. Brands and names of parts and specifics she didn't care about.

She leaned against the wall and wondered when Cinder was going to arrive. Ruby didn't want to sit back down because of the effort it took getting up, but she found a good balance using the crutches and leaning back against the corner so she didn't have to put much weight on her good leg. All of the waiting made her feel antsy. Anticipation and excitement of waiting for her friend to arrive made her restless and she leaned forward again onto her crutches to open the door. Outside, her sister and dad were still talking, but this time it wasn't about the shop; it was about Ruby. She stopped and listened in.

"Why shouldn't she be allowed to go out and do things? She's a normal kid, dad."

"That's not what I meant-" Taiyang sighed. "It's just- She could have died. Listen, I know I might not be that involved of a parent. I have my problems, I do, but I still care what happens to the two of you. You're my girls, and I-"

"Dad, stop." Yang interjected. "You're trying to be more involved. I get that. But take a step back. She'll be fine, alright?"

"But-"

"She's not some helpless child. She can handle herself. Just be there for her, don't smother her."

"You're right. I'm sor-"

Taiyang's words were cut short when both he and Yang heard the buzzing of Ruby's phone, letting them know the door was open again. The two of them turned towards the office, unsure what to say and unsure of how much Ruby had actually heard of the conversation. Yang was the first to speak.

"Hey, Rubes, I'm sorry."

Ruby shook her head, looking frustrated. The constant worrying looks her family gave her left her feeling trapped. Yang was better about making sure she didn't feel smothered, but still left her feeling confined in other ways. Their dad, though, started treating her like she was a small child again and she couldn't deal with all of it. She looked down at her phone to see a message from Cinder asking for directions and replied she'd meet her at the cafe near the bus stop on the corner.

'I'm going to meet Cinder.' Ruby held up her phone for Yang to see.

"Alright. Stay out of trouble and gimme a call when you need a ride. Let Cinder know I can take her home later, too, if need be."

Ruby's expression softened and she smiled, waving at her sister and dad as she left.

* * *

'On my way over'

Cinder stared at the message a moment and then walked to the window of the cafe to look around outside. She felt anxious waiting inside since she was also getting various stares from other patrons. The feeling of being watched put her on edge and she wasn't sure if she was even at the right place. Should she leave and look around again? No, she decided. Staying put was a better idea. If she was in the wrong spot, Ruby would message her when she couldn't find her.

Cinder had spent a fair amount of time looking over the menu posted above the counter and knew what she would get, provided Ruby found her and they could order together. There was something very nerve-wracking about meeting someplace other than the hospital or somewhere medical-related. It was the presence of other people. Cinder wasn't one to normally feel self-conscious about her injuries in her typical daily routines since most people paid little attention to her, but when she dressed up a little more, especially to meet Ruby, she felt more vulnerable. Her worries about what Ruby would think of her outfit if she should have worn something to try and cover more of her compression wraps if she should have hidden what remained of her left arm in a long sleeve or not…

While trying to keep her head above water with her insecurities, a familiar sight of dark hair with red highlights passed the window in front of Cinder and she felt a surge of anxiety and relaxation in equal measures. She tried to check her reflection in the window without making it too obvious and fidgeted with her shirt, smoothing it out while Ruby managed her way inside. Without missing a beat, Ruby hurried to Cinder's side and softly nudged her with her wrist and smiled up at her.

"Hey you, thought I was at the wrong place for a moment." Cinder's words were raspy and low. She was adjusting to talking more and her throat wasn't as sore, wasn't drying out as much, wasn't taking as much strain to make words, but she still had to keep things brief.

Ruby shook her head and pulled her phone out to talk. 'Yang and dad were talking. Had to deal with that. Dad still thinks I'm not well enough to be out without supervision.' She rolled her eyes and sighed.

"I'm sorry, Red."

Ruby playfully scrunched her face up in false annoyance at being called that and reached a hand out to gently prod at Cinder's ribs before shaking her head.

"Ah! Sorry," Cinder whispered while squirming and laughing. Every time, she knew it bugged her but did it anyway.

Ruby nodded to the counter and tapped out a message. 'Know what you want? I thought we could get coffee and head to the park a couple blocks over.'

"That sounds good. I can order for us if you tell me what you want."

Looking mildly put off, Ruby shook her head and reached in her pocket to pull out a couple of lien bills before moving into line, motioning for Cinder to follow. Unsure what was going on, Cinder obeyed and stepped next to her friend. It didn't take more than half a minute for them to be at the counter and the worker recognized Ruby immediately.

"Your usual, dear? Extra whip and all?"

Ruby nodded and nudged for Cinder to say her order next.

"Ah, may I get a medium vanilla cinnamon latte?"

"Of course. Ringing up together?"

Before Cinder had a chance to protest, Ruby was handing over the money for the drinks. She pouted and vowed to get her back for it later. While she was in thought about how she could pay Ruby back for this, Ruby had finished the transaction and lightly nudged at Cinder's foot with one of her crutches. When Cinder looked at her, she realized the two had to get out of line and she felt embarrassed for holding the line up. With a couple of quick steps, she moved to the side towards the drink pick up area to wait, and Ruby was soon next to her.

'I'd come here a lot when Yang would bring me to work with her, usually to get her coffee when dad would forget to get any for the office break room at the shop.'

"And you have a usual?" Cinder had to lightly cough after she spoke. Her throat was getting dry again.

Ruby nodded. 'Large hot chocolate with three shots of espresso and extra whipped cream' She grinned up at Cinder who could only try and stifle a laugh at how proud Ruby looked about it.

"Sounds a little too sugary for me," Cinder teased and smiled. Standing there with Ruby, she realized she made the right decision asking to head out of the home. It had been so long since she did anything fun for herself. The sight of Ruby smiling and actually being… happy to spend time with her, it felt good. She wasn't stressed about the meetings with lawyers, or the therapy with the prosthetic, or the voice exercises, or being alone in her room. She felt relaxed, less self-conscious. She felt normal.


	12. Chapter 12

**12 - Concern In Black And White**

Sun shone through window blinds leaving thin strips of sunlight cast over a sleeping figure. The mop of black hair seemed to let out a soft groan and a feline ear flicked in the light. The figure stirred beneath sheets, curling into a fetal position, and shuddered as it flexed and stretched. Blake took advantage of her day off from both classes and work to sleep in late. Her roommate had left hours earlier for class but left the faunus woman to rest. She rolled on her back and stretched out without opening her eyes. Blake could feel the sun over her skin and knew she would get an eyeful of bright sun when she opened them. She groaned again and sat up with a sigh.

A soft knock at the door broke the peaceful flow of the morning, or what Blake thought was still morning.

"Huh, whassit…" she mumbled. "Hold on! One moment." She grumbled while getting out of bed and stretched. When she opened her eyes the room was indeed brighter than she wanted it to be. With a quick glance in the mirror, she made a half-hearted attempt to smooth her hair down and readjust her pajamas, then opened the door.

Weiss stepped past Blake and entered the room. "Were you still sleeping? It's already past noon."

Blake blinked a few times, still trying to fully wake up and figure out what was happening but managed to close the door.

"We were going to go have lunch with my sister, remember? You said you'd go with me when I mentioned not wanting to go alone."

The mention of the lunch plans sounded like something Blake would agree to. It sounded familiar, but she needed to finish waking up to process. Blake shuffled over to the mini coffee maker and ran hot water through into her favorite mug while she dug through her collection of teas to find the specific black tea she was wanting. "Mn, yeah. Um, give me a few minutes." She rolled her head from side to side and popped her neck. "What time is it?" The question came out soft and not necessarily addressed to Weiss.

"It's about twelve-fifteen, and we're meeting her at one-thirty, so we have plenty of time. It's a good thing I came over early, it seems."

Blake nodded to herself. A little over an hour was plenty of time. She could get dressed, have her tea, then do her makeup and be ready to go in twenty minutes if she needed to, but was thankful for the luxury of going at her own pace. "Mm, thanks for the wakeup call. I would have forgotten."

"I thought you might have. It's okay." Weiss walked up to Blake and smiled at her, giving her a soft nudge to her shoulder with her own. "I'm just anxious. Thank you for agreeing to go with me."

Blake smiled and sleepily tilted her head to the side, resting it on her own shoulder. "Of course. Now, give me a few minutes to finish waking up."

* * *

Sun high in the sky and gentle breeze rustling leaves in trees and the older of the Schnee sisters sat at a metal table on the patio of the restaurant. Weiss had gotten up to use the restroom leaving Blake alone with Winter. She eyed the faunus woman over as she pulled a silver cigarette case from her vest pocket. Without looking at what she was doing, she removed a cigarette and pulled her lighter out of another pocket, lighting up. She offered the case to Blake who shook her head. The three of them had eaten lunch at a small restaurant not far from the college campus.

"For the best," Winter commented and put the case and lighter away while taking a drag. She blew light smoke out of the corner of her mouth and leaned forward to pull the table's ashtray closer towards herself. "So, Weiss says you're keeping her out of trouble." Without giving much away in the way of emotion, Winter continued to stare at Blake who shifted uncomfortably in her chair.

"I guess so, but really she's just been coming with me to work sometimes."

"The bookstore, right?"

Blake nodded and relaxed a little feeling the conversation become more casual.

"That's good. I worry about her." Winter took another long drag and let it out with a sigh. "She probably already told you, but our dad, he isn't well. Or, he hasn't been for a bit, but it's been getting harder."

Blake's ears were at attention listening to what Winter was saying. She knew some of the information or had gathered it from the talks she had with Weiss before. "It's his memory? Weiss said you were in the process of taking over the family company because of it."

"Trying to. It's a complicated situation, but I'm working on it. It's all been hard for Weiss since father has all but disowned her for not following in my footsteps exactly. She's taking a lot of what he says personally when it's just the disease affecting him. I'm glad you're here today, actually. I know how stubborn she gets. I think she's convinced I'm upset with her. But if she has trouble, let me know and I'll do what I can."

Blake wasn't sure what to make of what she was being told. She sat and watched Winter with a slightly furrowed brow. "You're wanting me to spy on her for you?"

After blowing a small cloud of smoke out the side of her mouth, Winter shook her head. "No, no, no. I mean if something serious happens, let me know. She's my sister and I love her. Father is still in control of the accounts and I'm not sure if he's going to cut her off since he's already done that with mother. I already told her to let me know if anything like that happens, but I'll feel better if you'll keep an eye on her too." Winter took a final drag from her cigarette and stubbed it out in the ashtray.

Blake slowly nodded. "You know she doesn't share all of that stuff with me, right?"

Winter shrugged. "That's Weiss. But, I'll give you my number." She slipped her phone from her pocket and pulled up her number and slid it over for Blake to enter into her phone. In the middle of entering the information, Weiss crossed the patio, approaching the table. Blake quickly finished punching the last digits in and slid the phone back to Winter.

"Everything alright?" Weiss was skeptical of the situation, sensing something serious had happened. "I should have known better than to leave you alone with my friends," she sighed and sat in the chair between Winter and Blake. "I already know you two were talking about me." She turned her attention to Winter.

With a slight laugh, Winter shrugged. "And if we were? What's my baby sister going to do?"

"Ugghh, you're the worst sometimes. Let's stop wasting time. What is it you wanted to see me for today?"

Blake scooted her chair a little closer to Weiss, unsure if she should tell her later about the conversation she had with Winter. Maybe when Weiss was in a better mood. Maybe after the two of them left and stopped by the coffee shop on the way back.

"Right to the point. How very punctual. Are you sure you don't want to come work for the company?" Winter teased.

Weiss rolled her eyes and crossed her arms.

"Right. I wanted to tell you that we've settled everything with Ruby's family's lawyers and no criminal charges are going to be pressed. So, this is a little bit of a… celebration lunch. But I also wanted to talk to you about father."

A sense of relief lifted a little bit of the weight from Weiss' shoulders, but it was only one of several anxieties about everything. The mention of father tensed her muscles back up. Blake could practically feel the tenseness radiating off of her.

"Mother and I are having to consider more seriously moving him to a care facility. He's… not improving. The doctors aren't sure if there's anything that can be done at this stage to prevent further deterioration, especially with how early the onset of it all was. But, if, or I should say when, we decide to move him, would you want to see him before that? I feel I know the answer, but mother wished me to ask anyway."

Weiss was sitting motionless and staring at Winter, expressionless. Winter reached a hand across to touch Weiss' knee, and when she did Weiss blinked a couple of times. "I, um- I- I don't know."

"That's alright. You don't have to answer right away. There's still a lot we need to take care of first with the company and accounts and everything. And he's still himself a lot of the time, but we felt you should still choose before we go through with that."

Weiss lightly nodded and closed her eyes, raising her hands to cover them for comfort like she did as a child. Blake reached over and rubbed at her shoulder, and Weiss took some deep breaths and lowered her hands.

"Sorry, sorry…"

"Hey, Weiss, no need to be sorry. I'm sorry for bringing it up, but mother insisted. I'll tell her you have to think it over. She'll understand. Anyway, I should head back to the office soon." Winter stood from her chair and stretched. She stepped closer to Weiss to lean down and give her a hug. "Don't worry too much, okay? Just focus on school and I'll handle everything else, alright?" When she stood up she rubbed her hand on Weiss' back and left through the restaurant.

"Are you alright?" Blake leaned in closer to Weiss.

"Y-yeah, I'll be fine," Weiss replied unconvincingly.

Blake wasn't sure if she should press the obvious lie or not. She knew she could talk to her about it later and instead stood up from her chair and offered a hand to Weiss. "Let's head back. We can stop by the coffee shop on the way. My treat."

Weiss looked up at Blake and accepted her hand. "I'd like that. Let's… let's do that." Her words sounded hollow and she sounded lost while thinking about everything.

* * *

Blake had walked Weiss back to her dorm after the two got back to campus and wound up staying to talk with her. She was surprised to see the state of Weiss' room. It seemed as if the usually neat and orderly Schnee had let all of that go to the side in the previous weeks. It was understandable knowing the family stress she was dealing with, but she wasn't expecting it to have gotten to the point it did. Weiss not having a roommate allowed her to slack on tidiness and it appeared it snowballed into a disaster.

The talk with her sister had only made things worse for Weiss. Once the bedroom door shut, she began to cry. Blake stepped closer and wrapped her in a hug, letting her cry it out into her shoulder.

"Hey, it's alright. You're okay," Blake whispered and held Weiss.

The shorter girl shook her head, not looking up, and slid her arms around Blake. "It's not. Father's mad at me, Yang hates me, and I'd assume so does Ruby and the rest of her family. Mother hasn't talked to me. You and Winter are the only ones who talk with me and don't seem to get uncomfortable. Everyone else, if it's not the incident, it's my family and the things my father has done."

Blake sighed. She wasn't sure how to respond to that. Of course, Weiss didn't make her uncomfortable, but she could easily see why others would. Her family alone had a level of notoriety in the city for being ruthless thanks to the aggressive business practices of Jacques Schnee. From what she could tell, Winter rolled with the rumors and seemed to enjoy dressing the part. But Weiss, even back in high school she remembered Weiss being sensitive about her family. Blake guided Weiss to her bed, passed laundry and textbooks on the floor. "Sit for now. There's no rush on anything, there's no need to process it all right now."

"You're right," Weiss mumbled and sat on the edge of her bed. "And… thank you for going with me."

"Of course. I'm glad you woke me up in time, too. I'd have completely slept through it otherwise."

"I figured you might. It's why I went over. That and I had trouble sleeping. I was thinking about possibly waking you up sooner but decided against it." Weiss leaned to the side and fell over on her bed while looking at Blake. "I remember how much you like to sleep."

Blake smiled and stepped over to Weiss' desk to slide the chair out to sit in. She swiveled it around to face the bed. "I don't think I'd have gotten up if you came over any sooner." She paused and debated on telling her about what Winter asked of her. She was thinking of it all the way back to campus and felt it important to let her know. "Hey, um, Weiss."

"What is it?"

"Winter. She asked me earlier-"

Weiss sat up suddenly. "What?"

"It's nothing bad. She's worried about you. Fears you might not talk to her if anything bad happens and gave me her number to let her know if something does, but I felt I should talk to you about it."

Weiss leaned forward and covered her eyes with her hands, head nearly touching her knees. "She always does this."

Blake slid the chair forward and rested a hand on Weiss' shoulder. She wasn't quite sure what to say and instead stayed quiet.

"She tries to baby me so much. I'm not wholly useless like she thinks. I just- I wish she knew that. If I run to her every time I have an issue I'm never going to get out of father's shadow. Or her shadow. I can't do this anymore."

"Listen, why don't you come back to my room for a bit? My roommate is gone for the weekend, we can watch a movie or something and take it easy. I have work tomorrow, but it's not until the afternoon so I don't have to get up super early. We can stay up and have a movie marathon."

Weiss slowly lifted her head and wiped at her eyes. They were red from crying and she had to rub at them a number of times until she could see clearly. "A-alright."

* * *

With the setting sun, something else set in with Blake's thoughts. The conversation from lunch with Winter kept playing over and over. Weiss' family issues reminded her of her own the year before and how Weiss and Ruby were both supportive of her. But Yang… Blake flopped onto her bed next to Weiss. She had fallen asleep halfway into the second movie Blake put on and she didn't feel like waking her.

She thought about her dad's accident and how she needed to go back home to help out for a while. How Weiss and Ruby would message her to see how things were going. How Yang and she had a fight right before she had to leave. It wasn't like their normal arguments and it got personal. Blake remembered being so mad at Yang and Yang apologizing over and over via messages when she was gone, but any time she called the two would argue again. She remembered realizing the two weren't meant to be. How hard it was breaking up. But also how easy it was to be friends again months later. Or… Civil enough to be friendly for the group's sake.

Blake reached for her phone on the nightstand and pulled up her messaging app. There was nothing from Yang since the conversation about Ruby's crutches.

'Hey Yang. Hope you and Ruby are doing well.'

Within a minute she got a reply back. 'We're fine'

Blake read the message and set her phone on her chest to stare at the ceiling. Talking with Yang was a long shot and she knew it. After a minute she picked her phone back up. 'Everything going okay?'

'Like I said, we're fine'

Blake could tell she hit a nerve messaging her. She'd have to try talking again another time. 'That's good. Give Ruby a hug for me.' With a final message sent, she set her phone back on the nightstand and grabbed the remote to put another movie on while she settled in for the night.


	13. Chapter 13

**13 - Frozen Treaty**

Yang pulled into a parking spot at the Schnee company building parking garage. She never used to mind the fact her once friend came from money but now seeing it all irritated her more than she could really explain. If she had her way, she'd avoid the whole company and all of the Schnees for the rest of her life, but Winter called and said there was some paperwork that needed signing to settle everything. Yang rolled her eyes and slammed her truck door shut, hitting the lock button on her key fob while making a beeline towards the elevator.

What floor did Winter say again? Sixteen? Seventeen? Yang sighed while trying to figure out where to go. Pulling out her phone to call Winter she noticed she didn't have any reception in the garage and closed her phone, shoving it back in her pocket. With an exasperated wave of her hand, she hit the button for floor seventeen figuring the higher one was probably it. "The higher they are, the easier it is for them to look down on us all," she muttered and leaned back against the wall of the elevator as it closed.

The whole ride up was in near silence. No music played, no sounds for the passing floors, only the quiet hum of the motor carrying the car higher and higher. Yang hit her head back against the wall in frustration at how slow the ride was going when it slowed down giving her a butterfly sensation in her stomach. The ride had gone much faster than she thought and when the doors opened she had barely caught her balance. Her frustrations were momentarily quelled by the stunning view in front of her.

From the height, she could see nearly the entirety of downtown through the floor to ceiling windows that ran the entirety around the floor. Yang walked to the window and took in the view, seeing the cars below, the buildings that stretched out to the forest in the distance. She was caught up in gazing out and didn't notice Winter approach her from the side.

"Amazing, isn't it?"

Yang quickly turned towards Winter with a soft huff. "Jeez. Sneaking up on people."

"Sorry. It's the carpeting in here. Father thought it would be better for productivity if it was quieter, but I haven't noticed much of a difference. Anyway, glad you're here. My office is this way. We can get everything squared away and I'll get you a check for the remainder."

Yang sighed and nodded. She wanted the whole thing to be over with so she could get back to work. Leaving her dad in charge was fine for the most part, but there were still two cars she told customers she would have done before the end of the day. "Lead the way."

Winter smiled and turned to head around the corner behind the elevator to a door, the name "Winter S." Etched into a plaque mounted on the door. She pushed the door open to let Yang inside first then stepped in after her, closing the door with a muffled click of it shutting. "Feel free to have a seat," she offered and stepped around her desk towards the back of the room. Windows lined the back and right walls of the office lighting it with natural light. Winter picked up a manila folder labeled with a case number on the protruding tab and handed it to Yang. "Just need a signature and initial on the top two pages. Feel free to look it over. Gist is after this is you, the accusing party, agrees to not press further legal action beyond the closure of this case and that we, the defending party, is to pay you a sum of two hundred fifty thousand lien, plus medical, therapy, and school reimbursements. Should say the total at the bottom. Should be close to four hundred fifty thousand? I pushed for full four-year tuition at the college in the city here just in case."

Yang stared at the document. The breakdown of the total numbers was… more than she anticipated. She remembered the lawyer they hired saying she negotiated an acceptable deal but didn't expect it to be this much. "Um… Yeah… Can I have a pen?"

"Oh, sorry. Here." Winter grabbed to pick up a ballpoint pen from her desk and offered it to Yang who took it and read along the document before signing it.

"This is…"

"Father only wanted to cover the medical expenses, but you're friends with my sister, or used to be. Same with Ruby. It didn't seem right only doing that."

The disbelief of the amount of money faded and Yang looked over the document more clearly. She felt a tinge frustrated at herself for being distracted by thoughts of what could be done with the money being offered. After securing Ruby's college funds, paying the rest of her medical expenses, and ensuring all of her physical therapy would be paid for, the rest was going into Ruby's savings. It was her money. Yang sighed again and quickly signed and initialed where she needed to. Offering the folder back over to Winter. Yang stood up.

"Let me get the check for you." Winter took the folder and walked back around her desk, setting it to the side and sat down in her chair. With a quick button press, she brought her computer out of sleep mode and was busy with the company's financial software. "So, you've got the auto shop over across town, right?"

"I know you're making small talk, but I'd rather just get this done with and not come back here anymore."

"That's… That's fair. I'm almost done."

Yang walked to the window and looked out over the city. Her anger bubbled up again as she thought about how Winter looks out over everything every day she's at work. Looking down on everyone out there. The whole Schnee family. Winter seemed nice enough, but was she really? Yang didn't want to think about Winter anymore. Especially not the fancy suit she wore. The white button-up shirt that probably cost more than Yang's entire outfit. Her vest that hugged her frame that gave her a strong demeanor with the gentle curves of her hips. Her white hair and blue eyes. Yang pinched the bridge of her nose and closed her eyes. She didn't know if she was mad at her just for being a Schnee, or if she was also mad at her for looking as well put together as she did. She figured it was both and opened her eyes again when she heard a printer running.

"Check's right here, along with a copy of the papers you signed." Winter slipped the check into another manila folder and walked it over to Yang. "I suppose this is it then." She held out her hand for a handshake.

Yang took the folder and opened it to look at the papers and check, then tucked it under her arm, accepting the handshake. She made sure to grip Winter's hand extra tight in a show of dominance but was surprised when Winter matched it.

"Boxing," Winter said with a wink. "Anyway, I'm glad we were able to settle this peaceably. I hope Ruby recovers well." She took her hand back and walked to the door, opening it for Yang. "I wrote my cell in the folder. If there are any issues depositing the check, let me know and I'll take care of it."

Glancing at Winter before exiting the office, Yang nodded. "Will do."

* * *

Winter stood behind her closed office door and leaned back against it. Maybe now things could go a little easier in sorting out what to do with father, she thought. She had to play damage control every morning when she got into the office, seeing whatever it was he had been up to the day before. It was unfortunate that she couldn't simply take the company from him without going through proper channels with the board of investors first. Several of them were fiercely loyal to Jacques and refused to see the harm he was doing to the company. Without a proper doctor's documentation, she couldn't push a vote based on his declining mental state from the disease. And now that the added stress of cleaning up after Weiss was done, Winter could focus more on figuring out what to do.

She pushed off from the door and walked back to her desk, sitting in the chair and swiveling it to face the windows behind the desk. There wasn't any way she was going to be able to concentrate the rest of the day. The handshake Yang gave had been a surprise to Winter and she was all too glad to return the force. There was definitely a rugged type of look to the blond woman and it piqued Winter's interest. She smiled and leaned her head back against the chair thinking about maybe bringing her car in for service at Yang's shop sometime.

* * *

"She's been nothing but a nuisance since the day she was brought home!" Jacques slammed his fist down on his desk to accentuate his point as he yelled into the speakerphone. "She has cost us money and seems hellbent on dragging the Schnee name down with her!" He hit the disk again, this time open palm for a louder slapping sound. "Nothing but trouble! Should have shipped her off years ago. But no, you insisted we keep her close despite her insistence of attending all these… these… pauper schools, like she's from a common name." Jacques' face was growing redder the more frustrated he got.

On the other side of the phone call, Willow Schnee listened to her husband rant about Weiss for the third time that week. Every time it was the same points. She lost count of the number of times he had called her to complain about Weiss. Any time she brought up their previous conversations about it, he claimed to have no memory of them happening. His memory was getting worse and he was getting angrier. Frustrated about everything. Too prideful to admit weakness. Despite his popularity with the investors, even some of them began to question his health and capability to continue running the company.

"Dear, that's enough. Winter will take care of things, so don't worry. She's got things under control."

"Winter," Jacques scoffed. "She better handle things right or else it'll be on Whitley to take over the company."

Willow sighed. The same conversations, the same frustrations, all of it the same. "He's only fifteen, and we don't even know if he wants to go into the family business."

"What? Of course, he does!" Jacques huffed and hit the desk again. "Any son should be proud to take over the family business!"

"We can talk about this when he gets older. After he finishes high school."

The response drew a quiet huff from Jacques, but he didn't comment on it further. In the silence after, he remembered the original purpose of the call. "Something needs to be done about Weiss. Should send her to one of the schools in another region and get her out of our way! Somewhere she can't ruin our family name. And make her get a real job and stop leeching off of us like a parasite. If she expects us to pay for all of her vagabond endeavors, she's going to learn the harsh truth about life!"

"Jacques! Enough! Talking in circles accomplishes nothing. Let Winter handle things. You have plenty of other things to focus on without getting sidetracked on something that's already being taken care of."

A loud huff sounded out and Jacques hit his desk before going quiet for a moment. "Alright. But, she better do this right! Can't have another of my children bringing me a mess to clean up."

Willow accepted that as the best she could do at calming him down. "Good. Now, remember to take your pills with your afternoon tea. Will I see you for dinner?"

"I'm not one to forget anything, and I'll be home at eight like always."


	14. Chapter 14

**14 - A Literary Surprise**

The morning shuttle left at eight and Cinder made sure she got up with enough time to prepare before heading out. Rather than take the later morning shuttle, she wanted to stop by a couple of shops before heading to physical therapy. At nine in the morning, the sun was already pushing back the morning coolness and heating the day up to what would surely be another burning hot day. The bookstore had just opened when she arrived and she wanted to grab what she needed before getting breakfast… Or coffee. Probably just coffee.

"What was the book Ruby mentioned the other day?" Cinder mumbled to herself while scrolling through her message history with Ruby and wandering the rows of shelves. She never realized how much the two of them talked until she had to look for something specific, and she didn't want to ask because it was supposed to be a surprise. Plus, she didn't think Ruby would be up that early anyway. All she could remember was the title had to do with plants or flowers. Finally, she located the conversation the two had about books and scanned through it. "There it is. Violet's Garden." She looked up at the shelves around her.

Cinder had to admit she didn't even know where to start looking for it and glanced around for someone to help her look. She stuffed her phone into her bag and walked toward the front of the store and the register only to find the register empty. Staying where she was, Cinder looked around the store again hoping to spy someone when a woman emerged from the back room tying her hair back into a loose ponytail.

"Sorry about that. Wanted to get my hair up before it got too warm out." She approached the register area and smiled at Cinder. Seeing she didn't have anything to be rung up, she asked, "Was there anything I can help you with today?"

"Ye-" Cinder cleared her throat. "Yes, please." Her voice still sounded rather raspy despite how much her throat had healed and she feared it may always sound like that. "I'm looking for Violet's Garden." She had to clear her throat again and reached in her bag for a bottle of water and took a drink.

"Violet's Garden…" The woman had to think, her faunus ears twitching as she did so. "We do have that. It's…" She trailed off as she walked out from behind the register to lead Cinder three aisles down to a middle shelf. "Right over here."

With a smile, Cinder bent down to grab two copies, one for Ruby and one for herself. The plan was to read through it with Ruby so she had someone to talk about it with, and having more books to read was never a bad thing. "Thank you," she said as she stood back up, holding the books to herself with her left elbow.

"Anything else I can help you find today?"

Cinder shook her head. "I'm just going to browse a little bit before checking out."

"Alright, well, if you need anything I'll be right up there. My name's Blake by the way," Blake said while nodding towards the front of the store.

Cinder smiled and bowed her head. "Cinder."

Blake left to man the register again, a look of deep thought on her face as she did, but whatever thoughts she may have had weren't given away by her expressions. Cinder glanced at her walking away momentarily before turning to wander the aisles, unsure of what she was looking for next. Passing shelf after shelf of books, stopping to remove one and look at the back description and return it, occasionally adding one to her armload of books to purchase. Before she knew it she had three other books in her stack and decided to return to the front before risking getting any more.

When Cinder approached, Blake set down the book she was reading and smiled at her, leaning over the counter to grab the books from her and help her not drop them.

"Thanks," Cinder said with an embarrassed smile. "Been hard adjusting to, well, this." She lifted her left arm.

"It's fine," Blake replied with a returned smile. "Find everything you were looking for?"

"I think so. For now at least. I'm sure I'll be back later on since it's close enough to where I go often anyway." She reached in her bag to pull out her wallet.

"I have to ask, two copies of Violet's Garden? One of them a gift for a special someone?"

Cinder shifted her weight from one foot to the other and fidgeted with her wallet, hesitating to answer the question. "Maybe. I hope so. She's… It's for my friend. It's a surprise."

Blake knowingly smirked as she finished ringing the books up and bagging them. "Well, I'm sure she'll love the gift, and she'd be silly to turn you down."

Cinder slid her bank card through the card reader and punched her pin in, feeling embarrassed. "I, um… Thank you." She put her card back and her wallet in her bag again.

"Of course. Anyway, here's your books. Receipt's in the bag. Enjoy them, and good luck."

Cinder nodded and took her books, hooking the handle into her left elbow so she could wave goodbye to Blake as she left.

* * *

Mechanical whirring filled the physical therapy room and suddenly stopped.

"Doing better, Miss Fall. It'll be no time at all and you'll have this mastered." Woolsey pat Cinder on the shoulder. "Are you doing the exercises at home that we talked about?"

Cinder sighed and shook her head, leaning forward against a plastic folding table. "Not this past week," she admitted and tried to move the mechanical digits again. This time they jerkily moved, but they actually did what she was trying to tell them to do. "Smoothly," she mumbled to herself with a clearing of her throat and tried again. The simple exercise of picking up a ball felt like a battle she had to fight.

"See? You're right there. So close." Woolsey smiled and slid a chair over to the table and sat across from Cinder. "It'll become second nature soon enough."

"I hate this thing," Cinder grumbled while she flopped back in her chair. "I have to focus but not and it's completely different than-" Her speaking was cut short with a series of coughs which made her lean forward again and cover her mouth, eyes watering. When she finished she cleared her throat and wiped at the tears in her eyes. "It's different than moving my other hand. I just- I don't understand," she finished in a raspy voice.

Woolsey frowned and leaned forward. "May I?" He held his hand out for Cinder to place her hand into it. "If it's really giving you this much trouble, we may need to recalibrate it. Next appointment I'll make sure the tech is here so we can check out your connection interface, too."

Cinder sat up and detached her prosthetic, handing it over to Woolsey to look at. "I don't know if it's me or the arm or what, but I can't do it."

"Hey, don't say that. You've been doing very well so far. Even today you managed to move it. You're already progressing faster than projected."

"It's so frustrating, though! I can't do this. Why do I even need a robot hand anyway? Why? It's the same thing every time I come in here. I can't do it!" Cinder was nearly in tears as she scooted her chair back from the table, bending forward to hide her face against her knees as she fell into another coughing fit. "Why-" The word forced another series of coughs from her. "Is this so hard-" She paused to hold in another cough. "To do?"

"Shh, it's okay. These things take time. You're doing so well at it all so far. Why don't we take a break for now, okay? Have some water, take a breather. We'll stop with the prosthetic for today and next time we'll have someone in here to take a look at it and your connection and get it figured out. Sound like a plan?" Woolsey's voice and its low tone was soothing and comforting.

Without sitting up, Cinder nodded. "That sounds okay."

"Alright. I'll get you some water, we'll take a ten-minute break, and after that, we can work on your legs stretches again."

Cinder sat back up, wiped at her eyes, and nodded again, catching her breath.

* * *

'What was it you wanted to show me?' Ruby's messaged buzzed on Cinder's phone. The two girls had finished their physical therapy and sat in the air conditioning waiting for their rides to arrive. Ruby's recovery progressed as predicted and she was slated to have her cast removed before the end of the year provided she followed doctor's orders.

"I got a surprise for you. Close your eyes."

Ruby furrowed her brow but finally did as asked. With her eyes closed, she set her phone in her lap and listened while Cinder dug through her bag. Sounded like a plastic bag she pulled out? She couldn't figure it out from sound alone and was tempted to peek when she felt something being pushed into her hands.

"You can open your eyes now."

It took a couple of blinks to readjust before Ruby really saw what was in her hands. She immediately perked up and leaned forward to wrap her arms around Cinder, phone falling to the ground from the awkward angle she had to move because of her cast. Every time Ruby hugged Cinder, she noted how warm she was.

"Easy Red, your phone." Cinder laughed and held onto Ruby so she wouldn't fall over. "Let's get-" She had to clear her throat. "Let's get you seated again. I don't think your sister would be too happy if I let you fall."

Ruby sighed and nodded while carefully holding onto Cinder for support as she was seated again. Cinder reached down and grabbed Ruby's phone from the ground, wiped it off on her shirt, and handed it back to Ruby.

"You like it then?" The smile on Cinder's face remained. "I'm glad. I got a copy for me, too. We can read it together."

Ruby bounced on her seat excitedly and typed out a message as fast as she could. 'I love it, thank you! You'll read it with me?'

Cinder nodded and bent down to pull her copy out of the bag to hold up and coughed when she sat back up. All of the talking she had done that day made her throat feel rough and dry. Ruby's concerned look was enough to make her use her phone to talk again. 'Of course I will. I'm just happy I could find it.'

'Did you get it from the place by where you live? That place is supposed to be neat.'

'I actually haven't been in that one yet. I got it at the place between here and the school.'

Ruby looked surprised. 'That's the place Blake works!'

'Yeah, she helped me, actually. Dark haired cat faunus, right? She was really nice.'

Ruby nodded. 'She is really nice. We went to school together. She used to go out with Yang'

Cinder slowly nodded as the pieces were fitting together. 'It's not weird I got these there, right?'

'Of course not. Idk what happened between her and Yang, but I used to go there a lot before my accident'

'Alright then. Maybe we should go there and pick out a new book after we finish this one.'

Ruby nodded and grinned at Cinder. 'We should! And we can get coffee again after! That was fun the other day. We should totally go to the one close to Beacon! Have you been there yet?'

Cinder shook her head. 'I haven't. We'll definitely do that.' She smiled at Ruby. 'We should head outside though. I think the shuttle should be here soon.'

The two girls got up from their seats, Cinder offering a hand to Ruby to help her up, and grabbed their bags. She offered a weak "goodbye" to Woolsey as they left.

"Take care you two. Remember your exercises! I'll see you next time!"


	15. Chapter 15

**15 - Building Heat (Pt. 1)**

'Is there a coffee place in the city that DOESN'T know your usual order?'

Ruby grinned at Cinder with a proud and confident smile. 'Nope!' With the reply, she appeared to be laughing and leaned over to nudge Cinder with her shoulder.

The two of them made plans to head out after therapy to get coffee with the possibility of stopping by the bookstore before Yang came to pick them up. They sat on a bench watching people run along the paths through the park next to the Beacon campus. With the breeze blowing and sitting in the shade, the late summer day felt comfortably warm but not exceedingly so. It made drinking coffee outside in summer at least more bearable.

'I'm unsure if I should be impressed or concerned,' Cinder replied and tilted her head while looking Ruby over. She could only hold the expression so long before laughing.

'I vote impressed.'

'Of course, you would. I'd be surprised if you didn't.' Cinder nudged Ruby with her own shoulder and wrapped her left arm around her.

'Why didn't you want to take your robot hand out for a spin? They said you could'

Cinder was unsure how to reply to the message and Ruby picked up on it.

'You don't have to explain if you don't want to'

Cinder shook her head. 'It's not that. I don't know how to explain it. It just doesn't feel right. Even after they fixed it and I can use it easier, it's just weird. I don't like it. I'll get used to it eventually, but right now I didn't want to bother with it.' She set her phone in her lap to grab her coffee.

Ruby read the message and looked back up to Cinder offering a soft smile.

"Becoming a cyborg isn't as glamorous as it may seem," Cinder spoke quietly and laughed. She drank from her coffee and set it aside to pick her phone up again. 'Besides, I'd rather not mess with it while we're hanging out.'

'You just don't want me trying to see how it works'

'That, too. I said I'll link you the manuals they sent me when I get back home.'

'Alright alright. Well, we should stop by the bookstore soon since Yang's off work in about an hour.'

'Sounds good.' Cinder finished her coffee and stood up, stretched, and took a couple of steps to toss the paper cup in the trash. When she turned around, Ruby was already getting up and situated with her crutches so she slipped her phone in her back pocket and grabbed her bag. "Have any ideas of what we should read next?"

Ruby shook her head and shrugged as best she could while using her crutches.

"That's alright. I don't either. We can figure it out there." Cinder cleared her throat and smiled at Ruby.

* * *

The walk through the Beacon campus was a quiet one. Most people were either in classes or busy with their own things and it left Ruby and Cinder plenty of time to move at a casual pace. Had they taken the roads around, the walk would have gone a lot longer, but they cut across the campus to save time. Breezes rustled the leaves in trees and swept around the scent of the cut grass and flowers.

Cinder thought for a while as they walked. "Did you give any thought to maybe going back to school?" She looked over to Ruby and had a mildly worried expression on her face. The two of them hadn't talked about school aside from brief mentions of Ruby having to pull out and Cinder not being able to enroll in the fall semester. She wasn't even sure she wanted to go again herself.

Ruby shook her head and stopped to pull her phone out of her pocket. 'I haven't thought that far ahead. I've been focused on a lot of other things as you can tell.'

Cinder nodded. "That's fair." She made a face like she was about to cough but turned to her phone to finish her thought. 'It's too late for the fall semester, but I thought of maybe signing up for the spring semester if I can figure some things out first. Or maybe a couple classes in the summer session.'

With a curious tilt of her head, Ruby replied. 'Know what you want to study?'

Cinder smiled and shook her head. 'Not a clue yet. But it's a little ways off so I've got time to figure it out. I got some of my general credits out of the way though.'

'Maybe we can take a class together later!'

'Only if you really want to, Red. I wasn't asking to pressure you to go with me or anything.'

'I know, but it could be fun. I'll think about it.'

'We should get to the book store before your sister gets here. Plus it'll be good to get inside out of the sun.' Cinder smiled at Ruby, her cheeks turning pink from the heat.

'Sorry! Yes, let's go.'

"It's okay," Cinder said while putting her phone in her pocket and started off again.

It didn't take the two long before they reached the other side of the campus and the road. Afternoon traffic hadn't picked up yet and the road was only moderately busy. Cinder's cheeks burned and the wiped at her forehead with her hand to push any hair that clung to her skin away. A single glance at Ruby left her wondering how she managed to handle the summer so well when she herself felt like she was burning up. She cursed herself for not sticking a bottle of water in her bag.

At least the book store was only a block away. Only a block away. She could do it. Her pace slowed and she followed Ruby but bumped into her when Ruby suddenly stopped in the middle of the sidewalk.

Shit.

"Sorry, sorry. You okay?" Cinder placed her hand on Ruby's back to check on her, but Ruby's attention was fixated just ahead. When she looked to see where Ruby was looking, she saw it too and her stomach tightened.

"Hey, Red, let's go find somewhere to get a drink. Okay? I think we both need some water." Cinder cleared her throat and moved her hand to Ruby's shoulder to give it a soft squeeze.

Ruby barely nodded and turned her head back to Cinder and nodded again.

"There's a sandwich place over here. We can get some bottles of water and get out of the heat."

Another nod and the two carefully headed back down the road leaving Blake and Weiss behind.

* * *

Cinder set a cold bottle of water down on the table in front of Ruby. The two had chosen a booth in the back corner of the sandwich shop underneath the air conditioning vents to escape the heat and wait things out until Yang was ready to get them. Cinder slid into the booth across from Ruby and turned sideways to lean back against the wall so the air conditioning blew on her face. She rolled her head to the side and looked over at Ruby.

"Doing okay, Red?"

Only a sigh and nod in response. No false anger about the nickname.

"What's on your mind? Did you wanna talk about it?"

Ruby shook her head. She took a drink from the water and set it back on the table.

Cinder lightly nodded her head. She could tell Ruby wasn't ready to see Weiss, or maybe wasn't ready to see Weiss with anyone else. She had to admit that she almost froze up, herself, at seeing Weiss. With closed eyes, Cinder leaned her head back to appreciate the cold air and the redness draining from her cheeks. Thoughts of Weiss and the fencing incident, the confrontations in school, the fighting, the anxiety, and anger all swirled in her mind into a feeling she didn't quite know what to call. It had been years since they had run-ins with each other, but without her grandmother to talk her through everything Cinder simply felt confused. Was she even mad at Weiss anymore for what happened to her? Or was she mad because of what happened with Ruby?

A low growl must have been growing in her throat because her phone buzzed to life and when Cinder leaned her head forward to see what it was she was met with a concerned look from Ruby.

'Are you okay?'

'I'll be alright. Just thinking.'

Ruby didn't look convinced. 'Are you sure? Did you wanna talk about it?'

Cinder had to appreciate Ruby using her own question against her. She forced a slight smile and nodded. 'I'll be alright. And, do you remember a while back when I said I wasn't ready to tell you about my stuff with Weiss?'

Ruby's expression turned into an even more concerned frown, but she nodded.

'I might be ready now. For… some of it.'

Ruby shifted on her seat to get more comfortable while looking between her phone and Cinder.

'We were in fencing lessons together. Idk if I told you about how competitive or… angry… I was when I was younger, but Weiss always managed to provoke me in some way. Or maybe I would imagine it. I'm not sure anymore. But, we would fight a lot. Pretty much every class we would have to be pulled apart. I know I did some things I'm not proud of.'

Ruby frowned while reading the message, but she didn't reply. She looked back up to Cinder for her to continue.

'The breaking point was because of a big tournament coming up. We were both supposed to be in it and I remember during practice she was talking about how I should give up. Trash talk like is expected, but I got so mad. And one of the other kids suggested we use the teacher's sharp foils. There was a lot of yelling and I think I got her in the eye when she got my shoulder and there was a lot of blood and we wound up stopping using the swords and just fought each other. It's all rather choppy, but we had to get dragged apart again. But because of that, we got banned from all of the fencing events in the city.'

Again Ruby didn't reply, but some things began to make more sense. The phrase "viciously attacked" came to mind when she thought about how Weiss described the scar on her eye.

'It wasn't just that, though. We were in the same school for a while and she'd always find me and start arguments, or I'd find her and start a fight. I think I broke her finger or hand once, and she got me good in the head with a book. But, grandma moved us across the city when she got a new job. We moved from her apartment to a house and I went into a different school district. This was actually the first time I'd seen her since then.' Cinder let out a long sigh and looked over to Ruby, her slight smile seeming more genuine despite the turning of her stomach.

Ruby wasn't sure how to respond to all of what she was told, but she reached a hand across the table for Cinder to hold. With Cinder's hand in her own, Ruby gave it a soft squeeze and smiled at her.

"Thank you," Cinder whispered. She gazed at Ruby and wondered if there was some reason the two had been brought together or if it was a massive coincidence. Either way, she was thankful for it after how lost she felt before and hoped Ruby felt the same.

Ruby still looked concerned and frowned. She tapped out a message to Cinder on her phone with her free hand. 'You're burning up. Are you getting sick? Was it too hot outside? Should I have Yang take you to the hospital?'

Cinder read the message and shook her head. "I'll be fine. When I get home I can take the wraps off and take a cold shower."

Ruby shook her head again and tapped out another message. 'Our house is closer. If you're not going to the hospital, you're coming over.'

* * *

Yang pulled into the parking lot of a bank only a few storefronts down from the sandwich shop Cinder and Ruby took refuge in and sent Ruby a message that she was there. She knew better than to pull into the parking lot at the other side of the stores since it was near the bookstore Blake worked at. She didn't want to see her, or did she? Blake had been on her mind ever since she texted her asking about Ruby. Yang thought her thoughts on everything were made clear by how she replied, but she wasn't sure anymore. Was she forcing herself to be mad at Blake?

"Dammit." Yang smacked her steering wheel. Every time she thought about Blake made her feel this way. Confused and upset, and confused about being upset. She wanted to… She wasn't sure what she wanted to do. "Ugh, did Ruby have to here of all places? There's tons of bookstores and restaurants around and she keeps going over here." She smacked the steering wheel again.

Blake was a constant thought on Yang's mind and she felt guilty about it. The two were done but part of her hoped it wasn't the case. She missed all of the little things from being together with her. The way her ears would move when she talked about something she was passionate about. How she would always seem so concerned whenever anything seemed to be upsetting someone.

She turned the air conditioning up in her truck when she saw her sister and Cinder coming around the corner. Yang did her best to push Blake from her mind when she got out of the truck to open the door for Ruby and Cinder to climb in.

"There you two are. Have fun?"

Ruby nodded while Cinder helped her up into the truck and returned the favor, helping pull up Cinder. Inside she leaned back against the seat and took slow and deep breaths.

"Got a bit too warm," Cinder said, taking her time speaking to not irritate her throat. Her cheeks were bright. "So we hung out inside for a bit."

Ruby nodded again to confirm the story but looked like she had something to say. The two of them shared a couple of wordless exchanges, nods, and expressions, and shaking of their heads. Yang wasn't sure what they meant but could only pick up on it being something important.

"What's wrong?"

Ruby gave a final serious look at Cinder before turning to Yang. She tapped out a message on her phone and held it up to Yang while Cinder looked to have given up fighting it. 'She's getting overheated and she's being stubborn. Doesn't want to go to the doctor. I told her she's coming over and taking a cold shower if she won't go.'

Yang glanced at Cinder and back to Ruby, only giving a single nod before getting back in the truck to drive them home.


	16. Chapter 16

**16 - Dispersing Heat (Pt. 2)**

'Will she be okay?' Ruby asked when Yang entered the room.

"Yeah, she should be fine. She's laying down now. Got the guest bed all set up when she was in the shower. How long were you two out there for anyway?"

Ruby had to think. She and Cinder went from physical therapy to the coffee shop, then to the park. But it couldn't have been that long, could it? The temperature was cooler than the past few days had been so she thought it was fine. 'Maybe 2 hours?'

"I think she just needs water and rest right now, but you two should be careful." Yang flopped onto the couch next to Ruby. "No more long walks in the sun. At least, not in summer like this. Your cheeks are a little pink, too."

Ruby nodded and her shoulders slumped. 'I'm sorry, sis.'

Yang smiled. "It's alright. But, in a little bit, you should see what she wants to do. She can stay the night if she wants, or I can run her home." She reached a hand over to brush the hair from Ruby's face. "Anyway, dad will be home soon and we can figure out dinner. And by that I mean the stuff I pulled out of the freezer will be fine tomorrow and we should just order something instead."

The mention of food made Ruby's face light up and she grinned. Her phone buzzed. The message was from Cinder. 'I'm feeling a lot better, so, um… thank you.'

'I'm glad! Also, Yang said you're free to stay over if you want. We were talking about dinner a second ago, probably gonna order something.'

'Sure, I just need to let someone know I won't be home tonight. I'll be out in a minute.'

Yang watched Ruby typing rapidly on her phone and smiled. "Girlfriend having a hard time sleeping?"

'If you still need rest, you should lay down!' When Ruby finished her message to Cinder she nodded in response to Yang. A second later when what Yang had actually said registered with her, she turned to her sister with a pouting frown.

"One of you just needs to ask the other out." Yang got up from the couch and shrugged. "It's not like either of you would turn the other down." She laughed and headed towards the garage leaving Ruby to stare at her phone and think about what she said to her. Ruby waved at Yang to catch her attention before she left and Yang stopped. "Everything alright?" She started back towards her sister.

'Yeah. Sorta. Something weird happened earlier, though. Idk how to feel about it.' Ruby looked like it was heavy on her mind.

"What's up?"

'We were heading to the bookstore and saw Blake and Weiss together. I know we all used to be friends but it's just been so long I didn't know they still hung out and I froze and I think I worried Cinder because I kinda froze up.'

Yang's jaw clenched when she read the message but she recognized that as not the right time to go into it. Ruby was having issues and that was more important than her own jealousy and anger. "Hey, hey, calm down. Have you talked with her about it yet? I'm sure if you just explained she'd understand, right?"

Ruby slowly nodded and it grew into a more confident nod. 'Yeah. I'll do that. Um, thanks.'

Yang tousled Ruby's hair, much to her annoyance. "Of course."

'You really think she'd say yes if I asked her out though?'

Yang had to try and hold back a laugh. "Are you kidding? She'd absolutely say yes. Anyway, I'll be in the garage if you need me." She turned back towards the garage, thoughts of Blake moving on running through her mind. With… Weiss, of all people. The anger and jealousy bubbled inside and she closed herself off in the garage to process. They could just be spending time together as friends. Yang didn't know for sure but she couldn't help but feel angry regardless.

* * *

Soft snores from Ruby filled the room while Yang and Cinder sat awkwardly, unsure what to say. Ruby was asleep on the couch between them and neither of them wanted to wake her. The movie the three of them were watching wasn't even halfway done when Ruby dozed off leaning against Cinder. The events of the day had finally calmed down and Ruby felt exhausted, Cinder feeling better after a nap and something to eat.

When Yang glanced over at them she couldn't help but smile. "So…" Yang said and looked at Cinder. "Ruby seems to really like you." Cinder turned to Yang and wasn't sure what to say. She seemed to try and find words, but Yang shook her head. "It's fine. I'm not going to grill you or anything. Not gonna do the whole parental talk about 'what are your intentions' or anything." The reassurance calmed Cinder down some.

"I really like her, too," Cinder said, her voice sounded hoarse.

"I can tell. The way she talks about you and how you act together." Yang stretched and shifted to sit sideways on the couch and leaned back against the armrest to better face Cinder. "You make her happy and keep her out of trouble, so I can't complain. Dad though," she paused. "He may try and give you the whole dad speech, but he sees how happy she is, too. So, don't worry too much."

"She keeps me out of trouble, too," Cinder joked and started to laugh but coughed, ending it with clearing her throat and a partial smile. Yang raised her brow and was about to say something but Cinder shook her head. "There's nothing to do at the home. It was all just doctor appointments, reading, and sleeping."

Yang knowingly nodded and sighed. "The first few weeks after she woke up were hard. She couldn't really… do anything. Read to her, watched TV with her, talked to her, but she couldn't come home, couldn't see anyone but me or dad, and for a while, she had a machine breathing for her. It was just… hard to see, so I can only imagine how hard it was for her to go through. And even after she came home, she didn't want to do anything."

Cinder only nodded. She definitely knew the struggles of going through that because it was very similar for herself.

"I'm fairly confident that she's only doing as well as she is now because of you. So, I- I guess, thank you." Yang offered a half-smile.

Cinder wasn't sure what to say to that. She remembered how frustrated and closed off Ruby seemed when she first saw her in the physical therapy room and how she could tell without even asking what she was going through. Looking at Ruby leaned against her, Cinder smiled and nodded to Yang. "She's helped me a lot, too."

The room went quiet save for the sounds of the television and Ruby's breath as she slept and Yang shifted her position. "Um, anyway, we have ice cream and cookies if you'd like any." She stood up and stretched. "Plenty of pizza left in the fridge. I should head to bed. Gotta open the shop tomorrow a little early to finish a job. But, if you need anything, Ruby knows where everything is, and my room is just right over there, so…" She shrugged and smiled before heading to her room.

Cinder watched Yang leave the room and when the door was closed she watched Ruby sleep a moment. The movie continued and she thought about how she had missed a good portion of it when talking with Yang and debated rewinding only to decide that it didn't seem worth the extra effort and the two of them could watch it again another time.


	17. Chapter 17

**17 - A Frosty Decision**

Yang grunted as she slid out from beneath a truck. It was only the second time since opening her shop that she had to rethread an oil pan for someone and it was just as annoying as she remembered it. Getting the bolt out always gave her trouble. Luckily, with it over with she could take lunch since it was the last job of the morning. She'd have her dad make calls to customers when he got in later. Yang stripped her gloves off and tossed them into the trash can in the corner of the garage while she headed to the shop sink to wash up. Oil and dirt had smeared on her arms.

Thoughts of what Ruby had told her days before bounced around her head. Blake and Weiss together. Yang knew she shouldn't care as much as she did. Knew that she and Blake were over with. It had been nearly a year since they broke up and she couldn't expect Blake to simply never date again, but the fact it was with Weiss… Or maybe it wasn't. Ruby only said she saw the two of them together, not that they were doing anything to hint that it was more serious. But she still couldn't get the thought of it out of her mind. Not knowing was worse than knowing in several ways. Yang hit her hands on the sides of the sink in frustration. It was best to assume the two were dating than dwell on the fact she didn't know for sure, but this left her with the question of what she could or should do about it. She thought it over while scrubbing the grime from her arms.

"I guess nothing," Yang muttered to herself as she shut the water off and snatched a couple of blue shop paper towels to dry herself with from the dispenser on the wall. She sighed. "Not happy about it, though." She threw the paper towels in the trash, grabbed her sunglasses from the office, and went to the lobby to lock the front door for her lunch break.

When she entered the front lobby, she flipped half the lights off to indicate they weren't open and headed to the door only to see someone walking up. Without really paying attention to who it was, Yang turned the open sign around to closed after spinning the "be back at" clock hands to one-thirty. Yang locked the door and started to walk away rolling her eyes hidden behind her shades, but turned around ready to point at the sign when the woman called out to her.

"Should I come back?" Winter asked.

Yang sighed. "Heading to lunch right now. Can it wait?" What did she want? All of the paperwork was done with. As far as she was concerned, all of the business between her family and the Schnee family was done with.

"Yeah, of course," Winter replied and gave a single nod. "Or, actually, did you want to grab lunch with me? My treat. After that, I can drop my car off."

Was… was she serious? Yang scrunched her eyes shut and pinched the bridge of her nose, unsure of what to make of the situation. "What is it you really want, Winter? I know you didn't drive across the city just to bring your car here to be worked on."

"Can't a woman want to support a local business?" Winter feigned offense.

"Just… drop the banter. Why did you come here? Was there something else I needed to sign? Need copies of the medical bills? Because I thought the lawyers took care of everything already."

"They did. It's nothing to do with that. Have lunch with me. Where do you normally go? Like I said, it's on me."

"I think you're misunderstanding me. When I asked 'why did you come here?' I meant 'why did you come here?' not 'try and convince me to go with you.'" Frustration was growing on Yang's face.

"Honest, I came here to drop my car off and maybe have a friendly chat. Nothing to do with our business before. I'll come back at-" Winter paused and turned her head to the sign on the door. "One-thirty it looks like. So, go, enjoy your lunch, I'll come back in an hour."

Yang eyed her over and stood her ground, thinking. Part of her was curious about what it was she wanted to talk about, and she was more than suspicious about why she would bring her car across town to be worked on. Especially since she'd never brought it in there before. There was something more to this but she couldn't figure out what it was. Yang scrunched her eyes closed again with a sigh. "Alright. I'll be back at one-thirty. Figure this out then." She opened her eyes and headed to her truck. From inside she saw Winter walk back to her car and sit in the parking lot while Yang took off.

* * *

When Yang returned to the shop she was thankful that Winter's car was gone but was surprised to see the lights on and the shop open. Dad wasn't supposed to be there until three and it was rare for him to show up early. Inside she didn't see him in the lobby and went back to the garage, stopping only briefly to stick her sunglasses in the office. Taiyang was busy under the hood of a van that he had pulled in.

"Uh, hey dad. You're here early."

"Hmm?" He stood up and turned towards where Yang was. "Oh, Yang. Yeah, I thought I'd come in and help out some more since my knee was feeling pretty good today." He stood on one leg and bent his lifted leg twice to emphasize his point. "Think the new prescription is working."

"Well, be careful. You don't want to make it worse than it already is."

"Naahh, I'll be fine. It's good I came in when I did, though. There was a customer waiting. I've got it parked in the back lot. Just an oil change. Said I'd have it done by five."

Yang wasn't sure what she was feeling about it because she just knew it was Winter's car before her dad said it.

"Was weird to see the older Schnee girl in here, though. Thought it may have had to do with Ruby at first but she just needs an oil change." Taiyang shrugged and wiped his brow with his right arm. "Anyway, how's it been today? Nothing too crazy, I hope?"

Yang couldn't figure out Winter's angle with this. It had to be something. She shook her head. "Nah, nothing too bad. I finished the couple of tire jobs from the other day since the order on those came in earlier."

"What about the rethreading? I see you pulled it around. I couldn't get that bolt off last night."

Yang laughed. "Yeah. I got the rethreading done, just needs to be filled up again. That thing was really stuck on there. And, uh… Oh, there's the diagnostic from yesterday. They need a new fuel sensor if you want to give them a call. Brought in another tire job. Have those on order, should be here day after tomorrow."

"Alright, well, if you want to help me fit this hose on over here. Can't quite reach my arm in far enough. You've got thinner arms and can get in there better." Taiyang laughed and turned back to the van he was at. "These muscles are a blessing and a curse," he playfully sighed.

"Yeah, yeah. Showoff." Yang shook her head and chuckled. "I can still kick your butt at arm wrestling, old man."

"Oh, whatever. I remember when you thought I was the strongest man in the universe."

"Please. Don't remind me." Yang laughed and leaned over into the van.

"That's nothing. I've got a whole stock of stories to tell any dates you bring home. Since you and Ruby made it clear I'm not the 'cool dad' I figured I can at least be the 'embarrassing dad' easy enough."

"Hey, I never said you're not the 'cool dad.' That was Ruby." Yang finished connecting the hose and stood up, turning to Taiyang.

"You didn't disagree with her, though!" Taiyang looked at Yang and shook his head in teasing disappointment. "Arrow… in the heart…" He raised a hand to lay on his chest.

"Oh, whatever. If you're done with the guilt trip, 'Mr. Cool Dad,' I'll pull around a couple more," Yang smiled. "We can probably knock all but the callbacks and tire order out before we close."

"Sounds good. I'll finish this one and get the truck some oil over there." Taiyang offered a cheesy grin and thumbs up to Yang who only rolled her eyes and walked off laughing.

* * *

Yang toyed with a pen as she relaxed on the couch in the office. Flipped up, end over end, only to be caught in her hand once more when it fell back down. Taiyang had finished calling customers back and was busy in the garage finishing an oil change for a customer waiting when the bells on the front door sounded out. With a groan, Yang sat up to see who had come in and sighed.

Winter.

With a grumble, Yang got to her feet and plastered on a convincing enough smile from the scowl she felt underneath and headed to the front. "Here to pick up? I'll go grab that for you." She reached for a plastic sleeve with Winter's work order and key.

"Take your time. I'm in no rush," Winter replied with a partial smile.

Yang rolled her eyes as she walked out through the garage to the back lot. "Just gonna get this over with," she muttered to herself.

"You alright?" Taiyang called out, looking over to Yang as she passed.

"Yeah, just Winter here to pick up her car," she sighed.

"On the work order, you saw I marked she prepaid?"

"Hmm? Oh." Yang looked over the order and saw a receipt stapled to the front of it. "Yeah, it's here. Alright, gonna pull it around." She kept walking into the back lot. It didn't take more than a few seconds to recognize which car was hers. The Schnee company parking pass hanging from the rearview mirror was a good indication. Inside the car smelled of pine and mint air fresheners along with new car smell despite the vehicle being over a couple of years old. Yang had to admit that the combination was very… fitting.

When she pulled around the corner and into a spot right in front of the entrance, Yang could see Winter looking around the lobby and couldn't help but feel like she was being judged for how she ran her business. The always-on professional look she had about her gave Winter an intimidating demeanor. Yang got out of the car and approached the front door but before she could push it open, Winter was there pulling it open for her. "Mm, thanks," she mumbled and approached the front counter.

"I take it I'm good to go again?" Winter's question was followed by a terse half-smile.

Yang pulled out the work order and flipped it over to see any notes Taiyaing may have left. "Looks that way. Air filters are all good. Swapped the washer out, new oil, new filter. Tires seem fine. You're all set. If you'll just sign here and… here." She flipped the paper over and slid it over to Winter with a pen.

"Good, good. I do have to ask, though." Winter finished signing and slid the paper back to Yang.

Great, this is it. What this was really about. Yang did her best to not let out the inner 'I knew it' feeling that had been growing all afternoon. Instead, she looked at her waiting for the question.

"Might be a long shot but would you want to grab a drink later?"

Yang raised a brow and stared at Winter. Had she heard her right? What else was there to this? She couldn't find the words to even reply because the question had been completely a world away from what she thought it might be.

"I know, probably the last thing you'd expect me to ask. Especially after… Well, everything. But there's no hidden motive here."

"You… Are asking me out?" Yang looked around to ensure no other customers were inside before leaning in. "Why the hell would I go out with you?"

Winter didn't let Yang's words faze her. "I am, and I'm not sure on why you would accept. But, I figured I'd ask. It's one drink. Much less commitment than asking you out to dinner right away."

Yang leaned back and stared at Winter, thoughts processing in her mind. What Ruby said about Weiss and Blake came to mind and she clenched her fist behind the desk. Blake. With Weiss. Winter's younger sister. Ruby's ex-girlfriend.

"Look, you're an attractive woman. It's admirable how you started your own business, how important your family is to you. I figure, we go out once and see if there's anything here." Winter shrugged one of her shoulders. "If you don't want to, I fully understand and I'll be gone. You won't have to see me again."

Screw it. If Blake was moving on… Yang took a deep breath and sighed. "To hell with it. Fine. One drink."

Winter grinned and grabbed the pen on the counter, pulled out one of her business cards, and jotted an address on the back of the card. "Meet me here at nine."

* * *

Yang checked her hair in the rearview mirror of her truck before stepping out into the warm night air. The sun had only set half an hour prior and red still tinged the sky's horizon, fast disappearing below the backdrop of the city. It had taken her a few minutes to find a way into the parking lot because of the one-way streets surrounding the location, but she finally looped around and made it.

"What am I even doing?" she muttered to herself as she walked to the entrance of what looked to be a much nicer establishment than she originally anticipated. Yang felt under-dressed for the occasion and was ready to turn around and leave when a figure with bright white hair waved her over. A crowd of people in business suits sat at a high table with drinks in varying shades of brown and one leaned back, laughing harder than he normally would have had he been sober, bumping into Yang. "Watch it!" Yang shot at him.

"Hey, s'all good," the man laughed and turned back to the group at his table.

Yang rolled her eyes and finished walking to where Winter sat. She had secured a corner booth, no doubt using the weight her family name held to ensure it was left for her alone. With the dim lighting in the bar, the high back to the booth seating, and the overhanging light to the table, it gave the booth a private feeling.

"About time you arrived." Winter leaned back on the seat and motioned for Yang to sit across from her. "Wasn't too much trouble to find, was it?"

"A heads up about all the one-way streets would have been nice."

Winter laughed. "Sorry about that. I'm so used to them I always forget. But, you made it here and didn't stand me up."

"Thought about it," Yang rolled her eyes as she slid into the booth. "Would have also been nice to know to dress up a bit, too."

"Don't worry about it. This isn't exactly a high-class place. It's just where a bunch of the office workers around here go after work. Way less rowdy than the other business worker bars, though." Winter smiled and pulled out her metal cigarette case.

In the booth behind the two, a very slurred discussion about a client's account was increasing in volume. From what Yang could gather, neither person was happy about working with the party in question. She wondered if discussions like that were common when the flick of a lighter caught her attention. She shook her head at the case being offered to her and was met with a half-hearted shrug while Winter tucked it back into her pocket.

Winter finished the last bit of her drink and set the glass on the table, taking another drag from the cigarette. "What are you drinking? It's on me." She motioned for someone to come to the booth and take the drink order and took another drag from her cigarette.

Yang couldn't help but feel the establishment was much higher class than Winter was letting on, meaning the drink prices would be much higher than she anticipated. "I'm alright."

"Nonsense. I'm getting you a drink. What do you want?"

"A strawberry sunrise, I guess."

Winter gazed at Yang a moment, only turning away when the bartender came over. "May I get a refill, and my cute friend here would like a strawberry sunrise. Fresh juice, if you would." She slid her empty glass over for them and smiled.

"Of course, that'll be just a moment."

"Thanks," Winter replied and turned back to Yang. "I had a feeling you liked the more sugary drinks, honestly."

"Because of my sweet personality? Or because I'm apparently cute?"

Winter laughed. "Something like that. And, look, I'm sorry if this is weird."

Yang sighed. "It's- it's not that." She stared off to see the bartender behind the counter mixing the drinks. "Okay, it is weird, but-"

"But you don't trust me."

The interruption silenced Yang. She didn't want to say it so bluntly, but she couldn't disagree.

"I didn't ask you here with an ulterior motive. I didn't ask you here for anything related to my family. I asked you here because I would like to get to know you. Let me try something." Winter set her cigarette in the table's ashtray and unbuttoned her blazer and took it off, setting it on the seat next to her. She unbuttoned the long sleeves of her blouse and rolled them up midway up her forearm. She unbuttoned the top button of her blouse. She raised her hands above the table. "A more relaxed look. I'm here because I want to be. For fun."

Yang watched with a raised brow as Winter went from all business to off-work casual. She had to admit that the look did make her relax some, and being able to see part of Winter's collarbone wasn't a bad thing.

"Better?"

With a laughing nod of her head, Yang replied. "Yeah, alright. Seeing you out of sorts like this was worth the trip out here." She half smiled and shrugged.

"Not so bad then. And, I'm glad you did show up. It's… nice to do something like this and not have to worry about other things, even if for a little bit. It's one of the few things that lets me feel normal." She reached for her cigarette again to give it a final drag before stubbing it out.

"You do this a lot then?" Yang raised an eyebrow.

"I don't ask others out to join me like this if that's what you're asking. But, after work sometimes I'll come here before heading home. The company employees don't come to this place since it's a bit out of the way. Either that or they know I come here and don't want their 'boss' seeing them out drinking." Winter shrugged and sighed. "It's good to have company, though. So, thank you."

"I wouldn't know what that's like. My only employee is my dad, and he's less of an employee and more like a business partner. I already paid back the loan he gave me, but he still likes coming in to help out." Yang leaned back in the booth.

Winter felt more at ease and smiled. The drinks arrived at the table and Winter bowed her head in acknowledgment while thanking the bartender. She turned back to Yang to see her taking a sip from her drink. The pleased expression she had was enough to make Winter smile. "The fresh juice makes a difference, right?"

"Mm, yeah, it does," Yang replied after taking another drink from the glass.

"So, your business is just you and your dad? Have you thought about hiring anybody else and maybe expanding?"

Yang shrugged. "When I first opened, I did. But, after seeing how business was and getting a customer-base, I didn't feel it was necessary. Or, I didn't until-"

"Ruby's bills."

"Yeah, until Ruby's medical expenses." Yang huffed.

"Everything cleared, though?"

With a sigh, Yang replied. "Yeah. Her bills are taken care of. I've got the rest in an account for her for school and getting on her feet after." She ran a hand through her hair, combing it back. "Look, you're trying to be friendly, but can we talk about something else?"

"Of course. Your business, though, working with people's personal vehicles, there has to be interesting things you've encountered doing that."

"You wouldn't believe some of the stuff I've had come through there," Yang laughed. The conversation steering back to work made her relax a bit more. She took a drink from her glass and sat up straighter to better talk to Winter.

* * *

The hours passed without Yang even noticing. When she checked her phone for the time it was after midnight and she leaned her head back. She didn't intend to stay out as late as she did. When the bartender came by to get her and Winter's new drinks, she shook her head.

"Can I get a water, please?"

The bartender nodded and took the empty glasses away.

"Slowing down?" Winter smirked.

"I need to get home and a cross-city taxi ride wasn't in my budget for the night."

"Nonsense. I can take you home. I got dropped off tonight anyway figuring this might happen. I'll call and have the family driver bring someone to follow behind and drive your truck back." Winter shrugged as if what she said was no big deal. "So, don't stress about it."

Yang felt conflicted. The flex of money Winter did, whether intentional or not, left her thinking the whole night was a bad idea. Sure, she enjoyed spending time with Winter despite the awkward start to the evening, and, yes, she considered accepting Winter's offer to make things a dinner next time. But the nagging feeling that she only took the offer because of Blake was one she couldn't shake.

"Really, it's fine. We can take our time here. I'll send a message for them to come to pick us up."

"Alright, alright." Yang couldn't argue with that and leaned her head back with a deep breath. "Thank you. This was-"

"You're welcome," Winter interjected and smiled. "Next time, it's dinner though."

Yang lifted her head again. "I didn't agree to that yet."

"Right. Drink your water and we can talk about it later," Winter laughed as two glasses of water were set on the table between them. "But really, I should be the one thanking you. This was nice. I don't really get to talk with many people on a casual level like this. So, thank you for indulging me and agreeing to come out."

"It wasn't bad," Yang admitted and drank half of her water in one go while watching Winter sip from her glass and send a message for them to be picked up.


	18. Chapter 18

**18 - Like A Sizzle To A Flame**

Cinder stared at her phone trying to find the words to say. She had been wanting to ask the question for a while and could never find the right time or words to do so, but when she woke up in the morning she found the resolve to finally do it. Outside her room the shuffling of other residents coming and going was enough to be the right level of distracting to cause Cinder to be frustrated, losing her concentration. With a growl, she rolled over and hit play on the small CD player on the nightstand next to her bed and rolled back with a dramatic flop.

"What if she thinks we already are and me asking is weird and makes her think I wasn't interested in her before? Ugghhh…" Cinder's voice was raspy but lately talking didn't make her cough as much. She closed her eyes and spread her arms out to hang her right arm off the side of her bed. "Or what if she thinks we're just friends and I ruin that by asking her?" The internal debate had started to spill over from her mind and form into words. With a huff she sat up and grabbed her phone from the bed next to her and started trying to type out the message again. The entire morning she tried to pick the right way to ask but kept stumbling over herself.

'Hey Ruby, I was wondering if you would like to go out with me? We should go on a date to a restaurant this Thursday.'

Too wordy. It sounded wrong. Cinder deleted the message to start over.

'Will you go on a date with me Thursday?'

Still not right. She sighed and deleted it all again.

'Would you like to go out to dinner on Thursday?'

Cinder's finger hovered over the send button as she debated if this was the best way to ask it when a muscle twitch made her tap the screen, sending it anyway. Panic rose up in her stomach and tightened. She tossed her phone to the end of her bed and rolled over to hide her face in her pillow while she lamented that she couldn't delete the message. It wasn't long before a buzz sounded out alerting her to a new message. She pushed herself up and scooted across her bed to grab her phone. Deep breath. She unlocked it and checked the message.

'Like a real date? Should I dress up? What time is it and where are we going? Oh! What are you going to wear? Should we go shopping for dresses first? It's going to be inside with air conditioning, right? That was really scary when you got heat sick.'

A huge wave of relief washed over Cinder and she fell backward on her bed, phone in hand. 'I'm assuming that's a yes? We can go on a real date and dress up and everything.' She stared at her phone and smiled.

'Does that mean you're my girlfriend?'

Cinder blushed when she read the message, her smile growing larger. 'I guess it does. Are you okay with that, Red?'

'YES'

Cinder could only laugh.

* * *

Ruby rushed to her feet, leaned over grabbing her crutches, and moved as quickly as she could manage through the house in search of Yang, phone in hand. She hadn't bothered getting dressed yet, still in her sleep pants and a tank top with her hair a mess.

With a knock on Yang's bedroom door with her crutch, the door swung open. Not in her room. Ruby continued down and emerged from the hall to the living room and didn't see her sister in there or the dining area either. It only took a quick glance to see she wasn't in the kitchen either meaning she had to be in the garage. A quick trip back around from the kitchen and through the living room to the garage alerted her to the sound of metal grinding starting up. Of course, Yang had to be messing around in the garage on one of her projects again. Ruby approached, careful of the sparks flying off of the metal grinder and waved a crutch in her peripheral vision to catch her sister's attention.

The grinder turned off. "Huh? What is it?" Yang asked when Ruby finally caught her attention. She set the metal grinder aside and lifted her goggles. "I'm almost done restoring the motorcycle frame," she grinned.

Ruby tapped out a message for Yang. 'Cinder asked me out! On an actual date!'

With a laugh, Yang pulled her gloves off and reached over to muss up Ruby's hair. "It's about time one of you did it. I told you she was interested, didn't I?"

Ruby huffed and scrunched her nose, reaching up to try and smooth her hair down again. 'We have a date Thursday and idk what to do or wear or bring or anything.'

Yang couldn't help but grin. "Alright, well, where are you two going?"

'I don't know'

"Might want to find out first and then we can work from there. And we can always go get you something after physical therapy tomorrow, too." Yang finished taking her goggles off and wiped her brow on the back of her hand. "Besides, it's always good to have a nice dress on hand if you need it."

Ruby slowly nodded and turned back to head inside. 'I'll find out where and what time.' She held the message up for Yang and went inside shutting the door behind her, and flopped onto the couch to message Cinder back. 'Where are we going and what should I wear?'

'I… didn't think this far ahead.'

'lol, but really, where should we go?'

'Well, was there anywhere that you wanted to go?'

Ruby rested her head back on the couch and stared up at the ceiling while she tried to think of where the two of them should go. It was only a few seconds after when Ruby's phone buzzed again with a message.

'We're going to the Plum Tree Grille at 7.'

'Is that the one across from that music instrument store?'

'Yes! Is that alright?'

'I've never been there. We get to dress up though, right?' Ruby had only heard of the restaurant before and had a rough idea of where it was. That area of town wasn't somewhere she went often since it always seemed like one of the richer areas of the city.

'Of course! I also have some good news but I want to wait until then to tell you. And before you ask, I'm not going to share it tomorrow at therapy, either. It'll be on our date.'

Ruby frowned. She was impatient and wanted to know but knew better than to pester Cinder about it. 'Alriiiiight.' She pulled herself up and grabbed her crutches to head back out to talk to Yang again.

* * *

Time seemed to drag on as both Ruby and Cinder waited for the time for their date to arrive. They messaged back and forth the whole rest of the day before therapy talking about what they were thinking of ordering as they looked over the menu together, sending pictures they found online of the restaurant to determine what all was around the area, whether they wanted to eat inside or on the patio. Despite Ruby's insistence otherwise, Cinder said they should keep what they were going to wear a secret until the actual date. Both of them had a difficult time sleeping that night from the excitement.

The next day wasn't much better in quelling the anticipation they felt for the following night. Therapy flew by in a blur and the two kept sharing knowing glances and smiles which Woolsey shrugged and smiled at. He could tell from the start of Cinder's session that something had happened and that Ruby was going to be just as unfocused. While the exercises and therapy were important, he also knew that keeping their spirits up was just as important and let it slide. Both girls more or less finished their exercises and he was willing to call it good and let them do their own thing a bit early.

Both girls got picked up, Cinder going in the shuttle seemingly heading back home, and Ruby with Yang to the shops to pick out an outfit to wear. Their messaging stayed consistent, neither letting the other in on what they were really doing, both unable to contain their excitement.

The night of the date, both girls went quiet hours before it as they got ready, neither wanting to mess anything up.

* * *

Cinder watched Ruby climb out of Yang's truck and approach her, almost speechless with what she wore. Black straps went over her shoulders leaving her arms exposed, swooping into a v-neck to let just a bit more skin show. The contrast between the color of her skin and the color of the neck and shoulders of the dress caused Ruby's features to stand out. Her eyes shined brightly with the lowering sun. Soft pink fabric ran from bust line to knees on her, adorned with patches of pink and black roses that held a very retro look that made her look that much cuter. A black waistband held it tight to her frame making the a-line style give Ruby an added mature look that caused Cinder to blush when she approached. "You look beautiful," she managed to get out and stepped closer to her, careful to not step on what looked to be a new shoe; a round-toe black flat.

Ruby smiled with a soft blush when she heard Cinder's words. Cinder's own dress held much of the same framing effect, pulled tighter with a high waist to make an a-line shape, and accentuating her curves despite the compression wraps beneath. Cinder felt lucky to have found something with lace sleeves long enough to cover her left arm that fits over the wraps. The three quarter cut on the sleeves wasn't easy to find as most of what she found was strapless or sleeveless with no arms. The dress was a more conservative cut around the neck and extended to just below the knee. She couldn't help but compare what she had picked out to Ruby's dress and felt embarrassed.

"Be safe you two. Message me and let me know when you need a ride." Yang waved to Cinder and Ruby and took off leaving the two girls in front of the restaurant.

"Our reservation should be ready," Cinder whispered and smiled again to Ruby who grinned in return. "It's a bit warm out so I picked inside for us if that's okay."

Ruby nodded, remembering the incident.

A visible look of relief spread on Cinder's face. "Alright, then, shall we?" She walked to the door and opened it for Ruby to enter before following her inside. A blast of air-conditioned air hit them when they passed through the door and they both felt relieved to be out of the lingering daytime heat. A hostess stood at a podium just inside and she smiled at the two. "It should be under 'Fall' for two at seven?"

"Fall, Fall, Fall… Yes, right here." The woman turned to look out over the tables in the dining area and turned back. "A little early, but… Looks like they just cleared the table you requested. If you'll follow me?"

As the two were led to their table, they passed through the main dining floor, a dozen tables spread out with various patrons enjoying their meals. Light filtered in from overhead through different stained glass skylights that left the dining area in an almost magical state when combined with the bright mosaic patterns of the floor tiling. Ruby and Cinder tried to take in as much as they could before they were led to a set of three stairs leading up to a raised section containing the booth seating. Each booth had a window that would have looked out onto the patio seating, but the view was obscured with a stained glass pattern of flowers. Soft light illuminated the table from an overhead inset light fixture.

Cinder helped Ruby slide into the seat back against the wall and set her crutches aside to lean against the wall behind them. She followed suit and sat across from Ruby and they both turned to look up at the hostess.

"Here's our menus, our drink menu, and a list of the specials we have this evening. Please, take your time, enjoy, and someone will be by to take your drink order."

The girls nodded in thanks and turned to each other when the hostess left to shyly smile at one another. They dug through their handbags to take their phones out and started talking.

'You look so pretty! That dress is amazing!' Ruby typed as fast as she could and grinned at Cinder who could only blush.

'Thanks. I think I look a little silly in it, but I'm happy you like it. Yours is beautiful. You look so good in it.'

It was Ruby's turn to blush. They sat for a moment and smiled at each other, the small changes in their expressions, the movements of their eyes, or their nose, or small winks carrying the conversation more than words could. Each understood the playful meaning with each change of expression, having developed a non-verbal method of communication between just the two of them over the time they'd known each other.

Finally, Ruby had to ask, though. 'What's the news you wanted to tell me?'

Cinder gazed at Ruby and despite all the times she practiced wording how she wanted to say the thing she still drew a blank on it. She opted to just say it plainly instead. 'The insurance payments for my grandma's house insurance and life insurance went through.'

Ruby lifted her head and raised her brows, tilting her chin slightly, and was met with a nod from Cinder.

'I can finally move out of the home soon.'

Ruby bounced on her seat and grinned. 'Yay! That's exciting! Do you know where you want to look? Or have you started looking yet? Oh! If you moved closer, we can spend more time together! Or I can take a bus or something and see you! Are you going to get a house?'

Cinder smiled at Ruby's excitement but the weight of what it took for that money to come through still hit her. 'It is exciting, but the house insurance money is for rebuilding the house.'

'So you already have a house!'

'Sort of. It's not much of a house right now, I'm told. It needs to be torn down and rebuilt after the fire. But, I will have one. Eventually.' Cinder's attention was pulled away to the man approaching the table.

"Hello, my name is Ezra and I'll be your server this evening. Can I start you two off with any drinks?"

'Strawberry lemonade' Ruby held her phone up for Ezra to read and nodded with a smile.

"Orange iced tea, please."

"Of course. I'll have those for you in just a moment."

Ruby and Cinder smiled at each other while their drink order was being filled.

* * *

Cinder smiled as she watched Ruby finish her meal. With the sun dipping below the horizon, the strings of lights around the outdoor patio ensured the stained glass glowed soft color in. They remained mostly silent while they ate, sharing glances and expressions only the two of them understood. They both picked out the same dish; the citrus-marinated grilled chicken which came with garlic green beans and rice pilaf. They had pored over the menu and picked out a half dozen dishes they wanted to try and made a list for future trips, but wanted to start with the grilled chicken because the balsamic raspberry drizzle that was served over it sounded too good to not have.

Ezra walked to the table and motioned to their half-empty drinks and asked if they needed a refill or wanted to see the dessert menu to which both girls shook their heads. He smiled and left them, moving to the next table.

"I don't even have room for dessert," Cinder spoke softly and leaned her head back against the seat with a laugh. Ruby looked to her and smiled. "I know, you always have room for dessert, but I thought we could maybe go to the coffee place not far from here after this. If you're up for it. It should be a lot cooler out now."

Ruby finished the last couple of bites of her meal and let out a content sigh and nodded to Cinder. She reached for her phone and messaged her. 'Well, since you insisted on paying for dinner, I'll get us coffee. Yang put a little of my settlement stuff in my checking to play with yesterday.'

"Is that what you got your dress with?"

Ruby frowned and shook her head. 'No, she insisted on paying for it.'

"That was sweet of her, though."

'It was, but she's also been saving up to restore a motorcycle she's always wanted and I know the money for the dress came out of the money for her motorcycle.'

Cinder was quiet and wasn't sure what to say to that. She knew that awkward feeling of being put first before others and the sense of guilt that came with it. It was the same thing her grandmother did, but she only started to notice it as she got older.

'I didn't mean to bring us down.'

"Oh, no, you're fine. I was just- My grandma would do the same thing with me. Maybe we can think of something to do for Yang later, though." Cinder smiled.

The two girls looked up as Ezra approached the table again and set a black bill presenter on the table. "For whenever you're ready," he said. Cinder turned to grab her bag and pulled out her wallet, slipping her bank card into the holder and handed it to Ezra before he could leave. "I'll be right back with this."

'Do you think the coffee place will have cookies?'

Cinder read the message and tried to hold in her laugh but only snorted before laughing out loud. "If they don't, we'll find you some."

* * *

Ruby sat contented with her overly caffeinated hot chocolate and giant cookie at a metal table outside the coffee shop. Both she and Cinder were happy to find the coffee shop was also a small bakery with an assortment of pastries and sweets they offered alongside coffee, making note of the place to return sometime later together.

"Hey, um, Ruby?" Cinder asked, trying to get her attention as she sat in a chair right next to her so they could idly watch the various cars go by.

Ruby looked to her with crumbs on her face which made Cinder smile.

"Thank you for doing this with me. Going out with me. Err-" She stumbled over her words, trying to find the right way to say it. "I know people are put off by how I look. My legs and side and arm, or what's left of my arm anyway, and part of my face are always going to be scarred and it's hard."

Ruby tucked the rest of her cookie into the paper bag it came in and grabbed one of the paper napkins from inside to wipe her face and hands-free of crumbs. She reached for her phone.

"I know people are always going to stare. But you know about that, too. Sorry. I'm not saying this right. I mean, tonight, dressing up like this, it- It means a lot. Tonight made me feel a lot better. So, um… Thank you." Cinder sighed, giving up on trying to explain since she couldn't get the words out in a non-messy way.

'Don't be sorry! I know what you meant.'

Cinder smiled at Ruby and she set her coffee on the table, no longer needing the extra sensation to focus on while she babbled out words. Ruby had a look on her face that Cinder couldn't quite interpret. Before she could ask, Ruby typed out a message.

'Can I kiss you?'

The four words brought an instant flush to Cinder's cheeks and she had to read them three times over to make sure she read it right. Not saying a word, she nodded and nervously leaned in. Ruby set her phone on the table and did the same, closing her eyes as her face neared Cinder's own. Warm breath brushed against her lips the closer she got, and the heat coming from Cinder's face caused Ruby's cheeks to flush.

For Cinder, the buildup to the kiss felt like an eternity. No thoughts went through her head the closer her face was to Ruby. The faint scent of chocolate and fruity perfume was enough to make her breath hitch in her throat. Their lips finally touched, warm and soft, and Cinder's heart raced. She knew Ruby's was, too, from the way she reached a hand out to hold Cinder's hand.

And the kiss was over in an instant. The two girls leaned back, still holding hands, and were quiet as they looked at each other with nervous smiles. Neither one wanted to say anything right away because they both knew that whatever was said would be more awkward than anything else they had ever said to each other before. Instead, Cinder scooted her chair closer to Ruby and leaned over to rest her head on her shoulder while they both enjoyed the moment.


	19. Chapter 19

**19 - Cold Courting**

Yang's phone buzzed. And buzzed. And buzzed. She had closed the shop for the night but hadn't left just yet, choosing to file the last few work orders from the afternoon when she was interrupted by her phone ringing. She knew who was calling and she knew why they were calling, but she didn't want to answer. The other two voicemail messages that were left over the past two weeks kept reminding her of how much she wasn't ready to move on from everything she had with Blake. Or… At least, made her question if it was really okay to move on. When the vibrations ended, she waited for the inevitable last buzz to let her know she had yet another voice-mail. And… there it was. Yang flipped the phone open to at least listen to what Winter had to say this time.

"Yang, it's Winter again. I understand if things were awkward, but I'd still like to hear from you to make sure you're alright. You have my cell and work numbers. Take care."

A grumble grew in Yang's throat and she sighed, flopping back in the office chair and closed her phone. "I have to call her baaaaack…" she groaned and sighed again. "In a bit." She sat up again and tossed her phone onto her desk where it slid across the top to knock into the monitor stand. With a glance at the remaining paperwork to file she thought it wasn't worth it anymore and stood up, stretching and popping her back. Dad would take care of it in the morning, she decided.

Bag, sunglasses, phone, keys… She was set to leave. Yang left with a slow shuffle as she thought about what to do. The urge to call Winter back grew if only to stop more messages coming in since the guilt from not answering was reaching a tipping point and it was starting to outweigh the guilt she felt for actually enjoying the night out the two had. A quick four-digit number punched into the alarm and she was out the door, locking it behind her.

Half-past seven left the sky a warm red and when she reached her truck she simply stared at the passing clouds. "Screw it," she mumbled and fished her phone out of her pocket. Hitting redial, she called Winter back.

* * *

Winter read through a financial report simply shaking her head in disappointment at the money she could see her father was wasting. His insistence on doing things the same way he had always done them, stretching back thirty years, was going to bankrupt the company in a few years unless it was stopped. She slid her chair back from the desk and leaned back to stare at the ceiling when she heard the chirp of her cellphone. Expecting it to be work-related, she let it ring a couple more times before mindlessly reaching for it. Without even looking, she swiped to answer and held the phone up on speakerphone.

"Winter's phone."

"Hey, um, I'm sorry for-"

"Oh, Yang!" Winter interrupted and sat up straighter, pressed to switch off the speakerphone and held the phone to her ear."

"Yeah, look, it's not that I didn't enjoy the night out, but I've had a lot going on and-"

"And you've been forgetting to call me back?" Winter asked with a laugh, seeing right through the obvious lie.

"Something like that."

"It's alright, you don't have to lie."

"Okay, fine. It was weird. Is that what you wanted to hear?"

Winter smirked behind the phone. "Not really, but it's better than never hearing from you again."

"Again, sorry for… screening your calls."

Winter glanced at the time in the corner of her monitor. "You're just getting out of work, right? What would you say to meeting up and grabbing something to eat real quick? You pick this time since I picked last time."

"You mean the bar?" Yang went quiet for a few seconds and Winter could hear her grumble something she couldn't make out. "Alright, fine. But it's not a date. It's just to talk."

"Never said it was a date." Winter grinned.

"You never said it wasn't, either," Yang muttered. "But, if you really wanted to talk, I'll be at Hoppy Buns Burgers."

Winter pulled up a web browser on her computer to type the name in and get the address. "I can be there in about half an hour." She already started shutting down her work computer and grabbing her things to leave for the day.

* * *

Yang sat outside at a metal table on the sidewalk in front of the small restaurant while she waited for Winter to arrive. The restaurant was one of the few places she didn't seem to have lingering memories of being with Blake at and thought it was for the best if she were to see Winter again. While staring out at the cars in the parking lot, she watched a familiar car turn into the lot and seemingly glide into a spot. Winter got out of the car and confidently strode to Yang. She approached with the same laid back professional look she had from the night at the bar; white button-up shirt with the sleeves rolled up partway up her forearm, a gray vest, dark slacks, and black leather shoes, her hair up in the bun.

"Still running fine?" Yang asked the question and folded her arms over her chest.

"Like new, same as always." Winter grinned. "So, already order yet?"

Yang shook her head and nodded towards the door before rising to her feet. "Hope you don't mind a bit of greasy food."

Winter smirked. "Not at all. This a regular for you?"

"No, but sometimes a greasy burger is just what you need."

Winter pulled the door open and motioned for Yang to go ahead. Inside, the two were greeted with the smells of various fried vegetables and meats. A rabbit faunus behind the counter greeted them as they entered and waved them over. Her ears were folded back beneath the paper hat she wore with the restaurant's logo printed on it; a small cartoon rabbit faunus chasing a burger.

"Welcome! What can I get you today?"

Yang only needed a glance at the menu to know what she wanted. "Can I get a double cheeseburger and an order of the crispy fried veggies?" She stepped to the side to let Winter approach and pulled out her wallet.

"You know, I'll have the same thing," Winter answered and reached for her wallet when Yang already handed a few bills to the cashier.

"Sure thing. And, what name should I put on this?"

"Yang will be fine," Yang replied with a confident smile.

Winter turned to her, about to say something, when she was met with an almost confrontational glance from her. She decided to stay quiet and instead pull out a couple of bills and tuck into the tip jar by the register. Not one to be outdone, Yang stuck the change she was handed back into the tip jar as well, accepted the receipt, and walked to a nearby table to wait for their food. Winter followed.

"I guess dinner is on you, then."

"You got the drinks last time which, after seeing that place, had to be expensive. This is at least on me." Yang set the receipt on the table and folded her arms again.

"Fair enough."

The two sat in silence for a few minutes, each one glancing to the other every so often. Yang questioned why she even agreed to meet Winter again, especially after everything.

Winter finally broke the silence. "Don't worry about not calling me back for so long. I took a chance and it didn't work out."

Yang turned her head to look at Winter, not saying anything. She was still wrestling with how to even feel about the whole situation. She wasn't sure if it was because of her feelings about Blake, or because Winter was a Schnee, or if it was something else entirely. Something about it all was hard for her to get past despite her actually feeling… happy that Winter even asked her out in the first place.

"At least I know, you know?" She winked and pulled her phone out to quickly check to see if she got any messages.

With closed eyes, Yang finally spoke. "It's… not that. I don't know why I'm feeling like I am, but it's not that it 'didn't work' or I don't like you."

Winter raised an eyebrow and looked up at Yang.

"I mean, you piss me off, but I don't… hate it."

Winter smirked again which made Yang roll her eyes.

"Look, your sister is dating my ex. My sister's ex is dating my ex and it's weird and I don't know what to even think about that."

"Weiss is dating the Belladonna girl?"

"I don't know. Maybe? Ruby said she saw them together and that's all I've been thinking about and because I was mad about that, I agreed to go out for drinks."

Winter began to nod. "Makes sense. And now you're confused. I get it."

The conversation was interrupted by the worker bringing a tray of food to the table. Two burgers wrapped in foil and two paper containers full of deep-fried zucchini, mushrooms, carrots, onions, and green beans. Both Winter and Yang thanked her and smiled before Yang picked the tray up. "Let's sit outside," she said and started to head out the door.

"As I was saying, it's fine. Just say the word and I'll leave you alone from now on." Winter sat in a chair next to the table Yang set the tray on.

"That's the thing," Yang sighed. "I don't know if I want you to or not. I'm just… mad. All the time." She grabbed a couple of fried veggies and ate.

"Mad at me? Mad at Weiss? Mad at Blake? Mad at yourself? Who are you mad at?" Winter did the same and picked at her vegetables, munching on a fried carrot.

"I don't know, alright? I don't even know why I'm telling you all of this."

"Well, if you want my thoughts on it, I think my asking you out so soon was mistimed and you still have some processing to do. Or maybe not. My work is with numbers and software, yours is with cars and machinery. We might both be inept at socializing." Winter offered a half-smile.

"Oh, whatever." Yang rolled her eyes. "Let's just eat."

The two seemed to be in agreement on that and quietly ate their food watching the sun dip below and set behind buildings. The coolness of the night air was a welcome addition. It didn't take long for them to be finished eating and they sat in silence for a while before Yang spoke again.

"Look. I don't dislike you. I don't regret getting drinks with you or grabbing dinner like this with you. There's some things I need to work on, like you said, before I can date anyone again. So…"

Winter watched Yang speak and when she trailed off, Winter waited before cutting in. "Be honest with me. Do you want me to leave you alone? Or would grabbing something to eat or a drink once in a while be alright until you sort yourself out more? Because I meant it. If you want me to leave you alone, I will."

Yang leaned back in her chair and stared at the sky. "I think… Doing this once in a while wouldn't be bad. We can see how things go. But I'll set the pace."

Winter smiled and leaned back to look up at the sky as well. "That's fair."


	20. Chapter 20

**20 - Fall's Offerings**

'How are you not cold?'

Ruby's message made Cinder shrug and smile. "Pretty sure my wraps help with a lot of it," she replied. A gentle breeze picked up and leaves fell from the trees overhead, raining down on the two of them. The wooden bench was already covered in leaves when they got to the park and they knew the risks of getting leaves in their hair. "I can take my sweatshirt back if you want me to layer up some more."

Ruby shook her head and pulled the hooded sweatshirt tighter to herself which made Cinder laugh. The summer heat had left and the crisp mornings and evenings of autumn crept in without either of the girls noticing until it was well upon them. For Cinder, the cooler weather was a blessing. She no longer had to worry about getting heat sick from simply existing outside and she could wear clothes that better covered up her compression wraps. For Ruby, though, the heat of summer was dearly missed.

'This is my sweatshirt now.' Ruby pulled the hood up and tightened the strings.

"Hey, I didn't say you could keep it."

'Nope, it's mine now. I just decided.'

Cinder sighed and shook her head. "Oh whatever, you can use it for now. But I'll get it back eventually."

Ruby tucked her phone in the front pocket of the sweatshirt and scooted closer to Cinder to lean against her.

"Yeah, yeah, you're adorable. What should we get to eat, though? And coffee doesn't count as food. Or cookies. We can get those after." Cinder turned her head to kiss Ruby's cheek despite it being covered in fabric from the hood.

Ruby's shoulders slumped.

"What about that bakery cafe place we went to a while back? And did we want to see if your sister wanted anything?"

Ruby shrugged her shoulders and pulled her phone back out to message Yang and find out.

* * *

The weather changed fast. The otherwise clear sky grew overcast and gentle breezes picked up to a heavier wind as Cinder and Ruby entered the restaurant. Cinder took a moment to smooth down her hair and Ruby looked up at her, still with the sweatshirt hood up. "Hope this dies down," Cinder mumbled as she turned to look out the large windows to the road outside. Beside her, Ruby typed out a message.

'I can always get Yang or Dad to pick us up.'

"Let's order first and see how it goes," Cinder smiled, wrapping her left arm around Ruby to help usher her out of the way of the door. "At least it didn't say it was supposed to rain today. Or, my weather app didn't at least."

Warmth and no winds left Ruby feeling more comfortable and she lowered her hood. She moved to the line to order and Cinder followed, keeping close. It didn't take long for the two to be at the front counter. Ruby had been there countless times and the older gentleman had already started punching in her order for hot chocolate and espresso when she typed out the order for her and Yang. 'Chicken bacon ranch bagel sandwich, three chocolate chip cookies, two ham and cheese muffins, and a large black coffee'

"And can I get a turkey club and a vanilla cinnamon latte, please?" Cinder gave her order and pulled her wallet from her bag, handing over her bank card to cover the order. Beside her, Ruby rolled her eyes and nudged Cinder with her shoulder to express her annoyance at not being the one to pay for lunch which only made Cinder grin and nudge her back.

"Will this be for here to go?"

"To go, please," Cinder smiled.

The man behind the counter grabbed the receipt, circled their order number, 268, and handed it to Cinder. "Should just be a few minutes."

"Thank you," she replied with a nod and both her and Ruby stepped away to sit at a nearby table as they waited. Behind them, the wind outside the window was starting to die down, but the sky remained overcast.

'You're a butt, you know that?' Ruby held her phone in front of Cinder's face.

"You were just too slow," Cinder laughed. "And you beat me to getting coffee yesterday."

'Oh whatever'

"Oh! I wanted to tell you, I got a call this morning from the contractor. I guess construction will begin next week on the house."

Ruby bounced on the seat and typed rapidly. 'Which design is it? The two-story or the one story?'

Cinder pulled out her phone to type her replies, her throat feeling dry. 'It's the single story one I showed you. I don't need two floors. Besides, doing just the one let me get the floors I wanted and the garage insulated like I wanted.'

'You just hated carrying things upstairs.'

Cinder frowned and stared at Ruby a moment before replying. 'That may have been part of it, yes.'

Ruby grinned and nudged Cinder with her elbow before apologizing. 'I'm sorry. I know it's easier being there if it's different than it was before.'

'It's fine, Red. They said it should be done before the holidays, though. When it's done you should move in with me.'

Ruby scrunched her nose at the name but let it slide. She deserved it. Instead, she scooted her chair closer and leaned her head on Cinder's shoulder. 'I haven't talked to Yang about it yet. I'm not sure how she'll react. Or dad.'

'There's no rush. The house isn't even there yet. And it's not like it's going anywhere after it's built, anyway.' Cinder turned her head to rest it on top of Ruby's.

'You're right.' Ruby smiled.

The two sat quietly as they waited for their order to be done. Behind them, the sun shone through the window and the weather seemed to have mellowed to a gentle breeze again.

* * *

At the shop, Yang worked on rotating the tires of a large SUV while she thought about the dinner she had with Winter a few days prior. There was more she wanted to say to her. She really wanted to tear into her about everything but knew that it wasn't fair. She wanted to tear into a lot of people. Really let them have it. Like the guy whose SUV she was working on for coming in seemingly every month to replace a tire because he shredded it doing something stupid. The creep who delivered packages to the businesses in the area for hitting on her at least once a week. Almost everyone she could think of. But also herself. Mostly herself, actually.

Yang finished the tire work and lowered the SUV from the hydraulic lift to be driven back to the lot again. "At least it's work," she grumbled and brought the vehicle around back. When she got back into the garage she could see Ruby with Cinder in tow heading into the office. Finally, two people she actually didn't want to yell at.

"Hey, you're back."

Ruby turned to greet her sister and nodded, holding out the coffee for her.

"Ah, thanks. I'll need to get more for the machine later."

'We can always get one of the coffee pod machines.' Ruby held her phone up and Yang rolled her eyes.

"We're not that fancy. Besides, the one we have is practically an heirloom. You'll be passing it down to your kids someday."

Behind them both and sitting on the couch, Cinder snorted out a laugh.

"Hey, that machine is going to be part of your legacy too if things work out right," Yang shot at her and waggled her eyebrows only to be smacked in the leg with one of Ruby's crutches.

Yang frowned and booped Ruby's nose before walking to the desk where the bag of food was set. She dug through it and pulled out one of the muffins and plopped into the desk chair. Ruby scrunched her nose at her and moved to sit on the couch next to Cinder.

"How much do I owe you?" Yang looked over to the girls on the couch and took a bite of the baked good in her hand.

Cinder frowned and shook her head. "Don't worry about it."

Silence filled the room while Yang finished her bite and stared at Cinder. "Mm, well, you're coming over for dinner anyway, so we'll call it even for now. But I'll get you back…" Yang's voice was playfully threatening and she shook her finger at the girl which made Cinder smile and shake her head.

Ruby nudged Cinder and the two exchanged a few wordless expressions and gestures to which Yang still had zero clue how the two communicated like that but wasn't about to ask for the intricacies of it. When it seemed the conversation between them ended, Ruby typed something up on her phone and showed it to Cinder. In response, the other girl offered a nod and Ruby sighed.

"Do I want to know?" Yang raised a brow and took another bite.

"Well, I have some big news. My house should be done before the end of the year. I think last I told you about it, it was stuck with the contractor and the city?"

Yang raised her brows. "That sounds about right. And, congrats. But, is there more here? I can't speak whatever it is you two do with the face stuff, but it seemed like there was something else."

Cinder looked at Ruby who reluctantly nodded. She typed a message and held up. 'Cinder offered to let me move in when it's done.'

Yang smirked. "I figured as much. Know when it'll be done?"

"Not right off. I was only told that it should be done before the end of the year." Cinder shrugged. "And I told her there's no rush. It's not like the house is going anywhere." Her words came out a bit too quickly.

Yang could tell she was nervous and laughed. "Hey, you don't have to impress me here. Yeah, I think it's a bit fast, but most people also don't spend almost every waking moment together like the two of you do, so who am I to judge anything?" She shrugged and stood back up. With muffin in one hand, she grabbed her coffee with the other. "Anyway, I'll be in the garage if you need anything, or dad's up front. Unless you wanted me to hang back and ask you two awkward questions or something."

Ruby looked at Yang with a glare that seemed to convey the message she needed to stop.

"Hey, I understood that one. I'll crack your guys' code anytime now," Yang teased before leaving.


	21. Chapter 21

**21 - A Cold Simmer**

You got this. You can do this. Yang shifted her weight while leaning down into a truck to disconnect a cracked hose. Sweat dripped down her brow and she reassured herself that she got it this time. Sure, she could have stuck the vehicle on a lift to get to it easier, but she was feeling overly stubborn since the job should have only taken her half an hour, start to finish. But the last part, switching the worn hose, somehow was the most difficult part. She slipped forward and scraped her arm, hitting her ribs against the edge of the truck.

"Shit!" Yang growled and stood up, muttering curses and threw the rag in her free hand to the floor. "Stupid damn… Ugh!"

Taiyang poked his head out of the office. "Everything alright?"

"It's fine!" Yang yelled. She finally looked at her arm and saw a tear in the coveralls she had on, but thankfully no blood.

"Let me take over. Go sit down." Taiyang approached and set a hand on Yang's shoulder. "Cold waters in the fridge. Go cool down. Besides, your phone was going off earlier."

"Did you see who it was?"

"I didn't. Should I be doing that? I thought it would be too much parental snooping even for me." He laughed and stepped over to pick the rag up from the ground. "Just the hose left on this, right?"

Yang turned, already calming down. "I- Yeah, I haven't gotten it off yet. I checked everything else, though, and there weren't any other leaks."

"Alright. Now, go, take a break," Taiyang laughed and shooed his daughter towards the office.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm going," Yang mumbled as she went, curious about her phone. Inside, she unzipped the front of her coveralls down and tied the arms around her waist like a belt to keep them up. The air conditioning sent goosebumps over her exposed arms and shoulders while her tank-top clung to her skin. She unplugged her phone from the corner and flipped it open to see three missed text messages.

The first was from Ruby. 'Sis! What was it you wanted from the store again?'

The second was also from Ruby three minutes later. 'Nvm, I remembered!'

The third was from Winter, only ten minutes prior. 'I hope your day is going well.'

The message from Winter seemed just as formal as most of her other messages. They were always sent at the same time, alternating every other day, and switching between "I hope your day is going well." and "Thinking of you." The formality in them, combined with the schedule, made them feel impersonal but also very much Winter. True to her word, she had backed off and let Yang set the pace of things, only sending the text messages as a gentle reminder of interest.

Yang only replied to them sparingly.

'Been better. What about you?' Yang set her phone on the desk and walked to the counter to open the mini-fridge and pull out a bottle of water. As she took a drink she heard her phone go off behind her. "Mm, that was fast," she mumbled and questioned what Winter even did while she was at work. The thought was soon swept away with an urge to sit down. Maybe her dad and sister were right and she was working too hard. Yang shook her head to banish that thought and reached for her phone.

'I'm glad, and everything is going well.'

Yang tossed her phone on the desk again and plopped into the desk chair. It was nice to see that her dad had finished calling the customers, so she leaned back and waited for Ruby and Cinder to get back. The two had been hanging around the shop more and more, sometimes offering to run small errands just to have something to do as an excuse to go off and do who knows what. Yang didn't mind the extra company at the shop, especially on days when their dad wasn't there.

The bells on the front door jingled and Yang sat back up. A quiet, "We're back," called out and soon Ruby and Cinder entered the office with three shopping bags. "Dish soap, hand soap, and coffee filters like you wanted." Cinder held a plastic bag out for Yang. "And I know you didn't ask for them, but here…" Cinder added. Ruby was the one to toss a package of pens to Yang. "We, uh… might have borrowed a few of your pens and wanted to at least restock you." Cinder's voice was low and embarrassed.

Yang laughed. "Thank you. I was wondering where they ran off to."

Ruby excitedly held up a large package of cookies.

"Oh, and we got maple creme cookies since they restocked them," Cinder added and grinned.

Yang rolled her eyes. "Alright, well, don't go too crazy." She stood from the chair and stretched. "Dad's ordering pizza tonight."

Ruby sighed and nodded, lowering the cookies, but still smiled because she would get to have both cookies and pizza.

* * *

With the shop closed for the night, Yang reached her truck to find Winter leaning against it. "Still on for grabbing something to eat?" Her question was calm and collected, but the way her mouth curled into a playful smile had Yang sighing.

"That was tonight, wasn't it?"

"Did you forget?" Winter raised an eyebrow.

"No," Yang quickly answered. "Yes," she admitted shortly after.

"What's on your mind?"

Yang walked to the back of her truck to let the tailgate down. She nodded for Winter to join her as she hoisted herself up to sit on it. "A lot but I keep coming back to questioning why I'm even doing this. Us. It's… weird. I haven't even told anyone about it, either."

Winter half smiled as she hopped up next to Yang. "It's alright, I haven't either. And I didn't think there was an 'us' in this, according to what you clearly said the other day. I was under the impression we were, and I quote, 'two people who are casual acquaintances that happen to not hate the other's company once in a while' and I didn't think that was worth informing everyone of, unless you would rather change that."

Yang groaned and laid back in the truck bed. "You know what I meant."

"I did, but I feel like these conversations are more fun when there's the looming threat of being punched," Winter smirked down at Yang who rolled her eyes and gave her a shove. "Besides, you don't exactly open up otherwise. I feel like you would need a therapist slash MMA trainer to have any sort of breakthrough." That comment earned her another shove.

"Yeah, whatever."

"How's Ruby, by the way?"

Yang turned her head to look at Winter, not bothering to sit up from her laying down position. The question didn't hit a nerve as hard as it did the previous times it was asked. "She's good. Cast should come off next month and she's been excited about that."

Winter nodded. The word choice alone, downgrading from the venomous 'fine' to a flat 'good' made her feel a bit better.

"I guess this is about when I should ask how your dad is?"

Winter did a half shrug. "You don't have to if you don't want to. But he's doing about the same."

Yang was quiet and a silence fell between them. When the parking lot lights flicked to life and cast a bright light over them Yang let out a groan and sat up.

"Want to reschedule then?" Winter asked and slid off the tailgate, stretching right after. "My evenings are typically free, so you can message me to do something most nights."

"Alright," Yang agreed. "Anyway, I should get home. I'll, uh… I guess I'll talk to you another time then." Yang reached up to shake and adjust her hair while she hopped down. Without much of a goodbye, she turned to close the tailgate and fish her keys out of her pocket.

"Drive safe. I'll talk with you later," Winter smiled and headed back to her car.

After watching Winter leave the parking lot, Yang sat in her truck a minute and leaned her head back against the seat. "What am I even mad at anymore?" She banged her head back against it a few times and growled. Her thoughts were interrupted by the buzzing of her phone. It was a message from Ruby.

'Can you get soda on the way home? Plz?'

Yang stared at the message and had to admit that Ruby wasn't letting things slow her down, so maybe she shouldn't either. 'Yeah, I'll be home soon.' She smiled and tucked her phone into the cup holder, started her truck, and left.

* * *

Ruby and Cinder were sitting on the couch watching a movie when Yang got home. One of the pizzas was sitting on the coffee table in front of them, half gone. She walked over carrying two cases of soda. "Got strawberry, like you always get, and got pineapple-orange for us with taste," Yang teased Ruby who only glared at her. Cinder laughed. "Someone here appreciates me," she added and handed Cinder a pineapple-orange soda.

Ruby held her hand out for one, too, but Yang pretended to think, taking her time. "I guess," she said and handed her a strawberry soda, then set another pineapple-orange one on the coffee table before heading to the garage. "Rest will be in the fridge out here," she said.

When Yang got back in the living room, she took a seat on the edge of the couch and grabbed a piece of pizza, and leaned back to see what movie was on. "Just started, too. Nice."

"We only put it on a few minutes ago," Cinder replied.

"So, are you staying the night again, or am I giving you a ride in a bit?"

Cinder looked to Ruby, then over to Yang. "I'm okay with either."

"Alright, well, you're staying since I don't want to go back out," Yang sighed and kicked her shoes off. "Dad already go to bed, Rubes?"

Ruby typed out a message and leaned over to show Yang. 'He pretended to be upset we didn't want to watch the same movie as him then went to his room to watch it in there so we could hang out in here.'

"Sounds about right," Yang laughed and shifted to get comfortable and watch the movie and eat.


	22. Chapter 22

**22 - Mild Comforts**

Distant loud sounds sent a jolt down Cinder's spine that made her freeze in place. The source of them was unknown but she knew they meant something bad. They held a familiar tone but she couldn't place it, and she didn't know why they made her panic. She glanced around the room only to see wispy smoke limbs creeping under the door, scratching and clawing and the floor and door frame and the gentle glow of mist leaking in. Her room may not have had much in it, but it was her only space in the world and it was going to be consumed by something otherworldly and unknown. Memories of her skin bubbling and peeling, splitting and burning, made her panic harder as one claw from an arm caught her leg.

Think, Cinder. Think. She looked out the only window in her room and saw the drop down to the ground below. Was it always this high up? Moonlight illuminated the jagged rocks below, showing each and every way it would be devastating and potentially deadly to call on them, but when one of the arms barely missed grasping at Cinder's leg, she didn't care. Plans already began to form in her head as she struggled to open the window. The latch got stuck and she couldn't unfasten it with only one hand. The brass looked soldered shut, or was it a trick of the light?

Shit.

Something heavy to break the window. That's what she needed. Anything. She looked around the room in a hurry. Nothing? Shit.

Cinder turned back to see the carpet beginning to melt and bubble, more thick fog filling the room. She began to cough and grabbed the closest thing to her, a plastic fan, and slammed it against the window only to have the casing for it begin to crack and break. Why wasn't this working? She slammed it again and saw the glass start to crack, but the fan broke into pieces. A glance over her shoulder let her see a smoky head emerge from under the door, eyes aflame, mouth agape in a rumbling, and gravelly yell.

More fog filled the room and even the walls began to bubble and pop, clawed hands emerging from the burst bubbles. She was desperate and panicked. Cinder slammed her shoulder into the glass of the window and the crack grew larger. Again. She did it again and again and finally, the glass gave way, the sudden influx of oxygen making the creatures crawling in agitated and more desperate to get her. She looked out the window to see no help coming and the distance to the ground below gradually getting larger and larger. The only option seemed clear. Cinder needed to jump.

With her lungs burning, coughing uncontrollably, Cinder crawled out the window, through the broken glass, and plummeted to the rocky ground outside. Right when she was about to hit the jagged rocks below-

* * *

Cinder jolted awake with a scream, sitting up and jumping out of bed only to fall on the floor, coughing and hyperventilating. She glanced around the room, everything unfamiliar but also very familiar. The door burst open and Yang ran in. The light from the hall illuminated Cinder's body curled on the floor. Soon after, Ruby rushed in as well, only slowed by her crutches.

The nightmares, while not super common, happened enough that both sisters knew what to do when they occurred. Yang knelt down and tried to soothe Cinder. "Everything's okay. You're safe." Ruby moved to the nightstand and turned on the lamp while Yang did her best to block the sudden change in light from Cinder. Within moments there was recognition in Cinder's eyes and she looked between Ruby and Yang, wide-eyed and full of fear still.

"They-" she coughed out, gasping for air. "Under- under the door-" She coughed again and again.

"Shhh, just breathe."

"Can't- the window! Have to get- window…" Cinder kept coughing and trying to talk.

"Slow, deep breaths now. Breathe in with me," Yang continued and took a slow breath in. "And out," she said and breathed out just as slow. She repeated the pattern a couple more times until Cinder started focusing on her and repeating it. Ruby shifted to sit on the edge of the bed, looking concerned and worried.

"Let's get you out of the floor, alright? Keep doing the breaths." Yang said and paused to see if there were any objections from Cinder. There wasn't. She was lifted and set on the bed next to Ruby who raised a hand to rub circles over her back.

"I'll go get some water," Yang told Ruby and nodded to the door. Ruby gave a single nod in response before turning back to her girlfriend.

Cinder squeezed her eyes shut a moment and rubbed at them before opening them to let her eyes adjust to the light. The sights of the room, not filled with mist or smoke or any sort of clawed appendage calmed her a little. Her heart was still racing when the thought occurred to her that whatever the thing was that tried getting in had clawed her leg. She bolted upright and pat down her leg, trying to look, only to find it still wrapped in the compression garment and not in pain.

When Yang came back in with a cold bottle of water, she twisted the cap off and offered it to Cinder who grabbed it with her shaky hand and took a sip. Yang left the room again only to emerge a minute later with Ruby's phone and handed it to her. Ruby mouthed 'thank you' and set it next to her on the bed.

"Alright, I'm gonna head back to bed. Wake me if you need me, but try and get some more sleep if you can," Yang said as she left the room and flipped the hall light off.

"S-sorry," Cinder mumbled and leaned against Ruby only to get a head shake and tight hug in reply. "What about 'thank you' instead?"

Ruby nodded and hugged her tighter, only letting go to reach for her phone. 'Let's get comfy, okay?' Cinder read the message and shifted to climb further on the bed and make room for both of them.

'Did you want the lamp on still?'

"Yes please," Cinder said softly and adjusted the pillows so they could both sit up and lean against the headboard comfortably. "Can we sit here for a bit? I don't want to sleep again yet."

'Of course' Ruby set her phone on the nightstand and scooted next to Cinder to get comfortable. Cinder could tell her girlfriend was tired and wasn't surprised to see her dozing off soon after. She pulled a blanket over both of them and listening to the soft breaths of Ruby.

* * *

On her way to work in the morning, Yang saw both her sister and Cinder asleep sitting up in the guest bed. The sight made her smile and she pulled the guest room door partly closed as she passed. At least they had gotten some more sleep, she thought to herself. She'd have to remember to message dad to bring them to the shop later.

Her morning commute was uneventful. With the season changing, the sun was rising later and later making her morning drives darker and darker, but when she got to the shop it was always beginning to brighten outside. While it was nice to have more sunshine in the spring and summer, the fall and winter let her see more sunrises, and something about the first coffee in the morning with the sunrise made the coffee that little bit better.

Not long into the day, Yang's phone went off with a message from Winter. 'It's been a bit. Would you mind if we got dinner later?'

Yang had to think about it. It really had been a while since the two had done anything. All of the trips to bars stopped after Yang got frustrated about having to find a way for her truck to be brought home. Or, more specifically, about Winter having Yang's truck driven home. And the dinners seemed to only happen every other week.

'We can do that.'

'Great. Let's go to the taco place we went to a few weeks ago. 8 sound alright?'

'Yeah. 8 will work.'

* * *

"Look, you paid for the burgers. It's my turn," Winter insisted as she handed her card over while frowning at Yang who only shook her head in disbelief.

"Not even my own food?"

"Not this time, no," Winter answered matter-of-factly.

Yang rolled her eyes as the waiter awkwardly smiled. Winter's card was shoved into his hand and he bowed his head. "I'll be right back."

"This was more for me, anyway. My gym got bought out and shut down to make room for some new business the owners wanted to put in. I haven't been able to work out my frustrations in a couple of weeks now." Winter flopped back against her chair, leaning it back on two legs and using her knees under the table edge to keep balance.

"Sucks," Yang muttered. "But buying me cheap tacos helps how?" She leaned back in her chair and finished her soda.

"Gives me an excuse to not go home yet. I can't deal with father right now. He is driving me insane, and I don't even live at the family home anymore. I've got no clue how mother puts up with him. If it's not him sending down invoices twenty times a day at the office, he's calling to try and insult-praise me for crap from years ago."

"I'm sorry, but… Insult-praise?" Yang laughed.

Winter groaned. "It's almost like the opposite of a backhanded compliment. He'll call to yell at me for doing something right. All of his compliments sound like insulting lectures. I just can't deal with it anymore." She raised her hands and shook them in a strangling motion to emphasize her point. "Guuuuhhhhhh."

"Why not just find a new gym?"

"I'm going to have to soon, but only after sorting out what we're going to do with father. Mother still seems convinced she can get through to him and keeps shooting down my idea of forcing a vote. At this rate, I'm half tempted to just walk out." She rolled her head back and groaned.

"Well, why don't you?"

Winter sat back up and lowered her chair. "Hmm? The vote or the walking out? Because one of those is more ridiculous than the other."

"Would leaving be such a bad thing? It's not like you're unqualified for other jobs elsewhere." Yang shrugged. "Seems pretty simple to me."

"There are so many hoops to jump through for me to leave that I'm not sure it's even an option. It's… complicated." The waiter brought back Winter's card and receipt for her to sign. She quickly scribbled out her signature and handed it back and slipped her card back in her wallet. "Still nice to think about, though."

"And forcing a vote won't work because…?"

"Because there's a lot of politics in both the Schnee family and business. I told you before, it's all a mess. I'm almost envious of how simple running your shop must be in comparison."

Yang half shrugged. "We should probably leave, yeah? This place closes in like twenty minutes anyway."

Winter glanced at her phone and saw the time. "Oh, shoot, yeah. I need to stop by the store still on the way home." She stood up from the chair and grabbed her cup, draining it in the last drink, and set it down to grab her handbag. "Mm, thanks for doing this. I know you hate me, but it means a lot," she teased with a wink.

Yang rolled her eyes as she stood up. "Oh, whatever. Only a little bit."

The two left, Yang holding the door open for Winter who gave her shoulder a playful shove. "I'll see you later, then," she called and headed to her car. Yang gave a quiet wave of her hand and got in her truck.


	23. Chapter 23

**23 - Frozen Out**

A swipe of the card and then… Error. Weiss wiped the magnetic strip off and tried it again. Again, another error. She tried again only to get the same result. On the fifth time, the cashier spoke up. "Do you have any other forms of payment? Cash, a different card?"

Weiss dug through her wallet but came up empty. Anxiety built up and twisted her stomach as she looked up to the cashier again, but Blake stepped in. "Here," she said and handed a couple of lien over to cover the shorter girl's meal. As the two left the counter with cafeteria trays in hand Blake nodded to a free table for them to sit at.

"I'm so sorry. I don't understand. That card shouldn't be anywhere near its limit. I've only used it for food and things for class," Weiss mumbled and dug her phone out to check her account.

"Don't worry about it. It might just be a mix up at the bank. It's happened to me before. All you need to do is call and they can sort it out." Blake shrugged and took a sip from her tea before taking a bite of her sandwich. When she looked up at Weiss she could tell something was wrong, though. "Hey, uh, Weiss?"

"It's saying that my account is closed…" Her words were a low mumble that left Blake concerned. "Can you watch my stuff? I'm going to go call," Weiss said and got up from the table.

"It's probably quieter out the side entrance. I'll be here." Blake watched her leave and pulled her book out of her bag to continue reading while she ate and waited. She didn't make it more than a couple of pages when she saw Weiss rush back to the table and sit down, crumpling forward, hands over her face, face pressed to her knees.

"Hey, hey, what's wrong?" Blake got up and went to the other side of the table to sit next to her. "What is it?" She placed a hand on Weiss' back and rubbed softly.

"I-" Weiss started, voice muffled. "I have nothing. Less than nothing," she mumbled. Blake wasn't sure what that meant exactly, but she could wager a guess. Weiss' shoulders shook as she started to cry. "My account is in the negative, my card has been canceled, I don't know what to do."

"Well, didn't Winter say this could happen? You should try calling her," Blake reassured Weiss. "I know you probably don't want to, but she'd be able to help."

Weiss was quiet and didn't look up, staying leaned over against her knees. People around the cafeteria looked over at the girl crying in her knees, but most didn't pay the sight more than a second glance, the sight of someone upset not being an uncommon thing as the semester progressed.

"Why don't we head back to my room for now? Reese is there, but she won't mind. I'll pack up what I can here and we can head back there." Blake leaned down and smiled, rubbing Weiss' back more.

Weiss turned her head to look at Blake and wiped at her eyes before nodding.

"Drink your water, though. Don't want to get a headache," she reminded Weiss and pulled her up to give her a hug. Weiss nodded and took the bottle, unscrewing the cap, and drinking half of it down. "We'll get this figured out." Weiss took slow and deep breaths to calm herself while Blake wrapped the rest of her sandwich and cookie in napkins to tuck in her bag. She did the same for Weiss' bagel.

"Thank you," Weiss spoke quietly and wiped at her eyes. The redness from her cheeks was already fading as she caught her breath.

"Don't worry about it. Come on," Bake reassured Weiss and placed a hand on her back to guide her.

* * *

Weiss flopped back on Blake's bed as Blake closed the door behind them. She managed to calm some on the walk back with extra help from Blake making sure she didn't walk headfirst into anything.

"You two are back early," Reese commented, looking up from her laptop and immediately turning the volume down of the music she was listening to. "If you two need some privacy, I can turn the other way or something," she teased while raising an eyebrow. "Find some more appropriate music even."

"No, nothing like that," Blake chuckled and shook her head.

"Ugh," Weiss groaned at Reese's comment, rolling on her side. "No."

Blake walked around to sit next to Weiss on her bed. "You're going to need to call Winter."

"There has to be a way to… do this without doing that," Weiss mumbled and turned to look up at Blake.

"Question," Reese spoke up. "Winter as in Winter Schnee?"

Blake raised an eyebrow. "Yeah. Why do you ask?"

"You might want to read this, then." Reese waved the two over but only Blake got up to see. Weiss rolled her head to look at the two on the other side of the room. "Went up a little bit ago, apparently. Totally wasn't snooping on your family, Weiss, but sorta was because you're dating my roommate."

"We're not dating!" Weiss protested.

"Uh-huh, whatever. But, seems your dad has pushed all the other Schnees out of the Schnee company or something. Media has been in a tizzy about it."

Weiss propped herself up on her elbows and looked over at Reese and Blake with a confused expression and started to dig her phone out of her pocket. "I should…" Blake nodded and took a seat next to Reese. The two watched with growing interest as Weiss sat up fully and dialed Winter's number. When she got an answer, she stood up and started to pace in circles while she talked.

* * *

"What do you mean, I'm not allowed on company property anymore?" Winter demanded from the parking garage gate operator.

"I'm sorry, Ms. Schnee, but word just came down this morning. The notice was here when I got to my post." The man's expression held a mix of confusion and fear as he answered Winter. "I'm really sorry, but I can't let you in."

Winter pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed. "Not your fault. Shouldn't have yelled," she spoke quietly. When she opened her eyes again reached for her phone. No new messages. Strange. "May I ask who isn't allowed in anymore?"

The operator paused while he turned to check the official order again. "Namely… You, Mrs. Schnee, and young Miss Schnee."

Winter listened and slowly nodded along. "I thought so. Thank you." She put her car in reverse to back away from the garage and leave. "I have a few calls to make," she mumbled.

"Good day, Ms. Schnee," the operator called out to her with a wave as she left. She waved back as she left.

Winter didn't make it more than two blocks before her phone rang. She glanced to see who was calling figuring it would be her mother but saw it was Weiss and hit accept to send it to the car's audio. "Hey Weiss," she said calmly, accelerating to shoot through a yellow light.

"What's going on? I find out from the news that you and mother were pushed out of the company, and my accounts are all a mess, and… What did father do?"

"I'm not sure yet. I'm heading back to the family home to talk with mother. I can't even get in the office right now. You, mother, and I are all not allowed on the premises anymore according to a company memo." Winter rolled to a stop at the following traffic light and impatiently tapped her fingers on the steering wheel for it to turn green again.

"He can't do that though, can he? I thought mother was owner, too."

"Strictly speaking, he can to a degree. Mother is still co-owner on paper so she can't be fully ousted, but we'll see. But, your accounts are closed? Are you alright?" She tapped the wheel faster as the cross-traffic light turned yellow and red. When hers turned green she hit the gas and took off toward the highway.

"My card's been canceled and my account is in the negative."

"So, you have no money. Perfect." Winter smacked her wheel and growled. "Means I'm probably locked out of some of the accounts, too. He can't touch my personal accounts, so I'll transfer some to you in a bit. Are you okay right now, though?" She repeated the question, checking on her sister.

"I- Um, yeah. I have some food in my room for right now, and I'm at Blake's at the moment. But what are we going to do?"

"Alright. Good. I'll call you back after I talk with mother. Let us figure this out but call me if anything comes up or anything changes."

"Thank you, Winter," Weiss spoke softly and it brought a smile to Winter's face. It was a tone she hadn't used with her in a long time and she could picture the expression on her face.

"Of course. You're my sister. Someone has to look out for you in this family," Winter chuckled. "Anyway, hanging up now. Call you in a bit."

* * *

Weiss hung up her phone and tossed it onto Blake's bed before stepping towards it and falling face-first onto it, careful to avoid her phone. "No clue what father did this time, but Winter said she's coming by after she talks with mother." Her words were muffled by blankets as she was still face down, but she adjusted and turned her head to face Reese and Blake.

"They'll get it taken care of, I'm sure," Blake spoke.

Reese was the only one with a look of concern on her face. "Is she coming here? Should we, I don't know, clean up a bit or something?"

Blake turned her head to look at the girl next to her and laughed. "No, we're fine."

"I'll go meet her outside if she does. Besides, my room is like a hundred times worse," Weiss groaned and rolled to her back.

Blake leaned in to whisper to Reese, "It's true." Weiss heard it and rolled her head to the side and looked at Blake with a scowl. "What? You just said it."

"You're right," Weiss admitted and turned back to stare at the ceiling.

Blake shook her head and got up from Reese's bed and went to the small coffee maker to run hot water through for tea. "Anyone want any tea? Reese? Weiss?"

"Nah, I'm good," Reese answered and held up her can of soda in a cheers motion.

Weiss propped herself up on her elbows and looked over to Blake. "I'd like that, thank you."

Blake grabbed a box of vanilla mint tea and stuck a bag into each of the two mugs she pulled out. "You should probably eat your bagel," Blake reminded Weiss. "I'm assuming you didn't have anything earlier."

"Just a bagel? Screw that, let's get pizza," Reese chimed in and started pulling up the website to order online from. She wanted to at least try and help the situation but not knowing Weiss well enough she didn't know how. Food felt like a solid choice for trying to cheer her up. She looked up from her laptop to see Blake and Weiss both looking at her. "What? Like you guys haven't had pizza for-" she stopped to look at the time in the corner of her screen. "Late-ish breakfast before. Early lunch? Whatever. They're open and we're having pizza."

Weiss snorted and started to laugh. "Pizza does sound better than a bagel."

Reese raised her eyebrows and looked at Blake. "See?"

Blake rolled her eyes with a shrug.

* * *

Winter sat across from her mother in the Schnee mansion's parlor. A cup of coffee in her hands while she waited for her mother to reply.

"I don't know what his plan is, but I'm already working on it."

"Working on it?" Winter questioned.

"Yes. Working on it," Willow said flatly before taking a sip from her own coffee.

"Would you care to elaborate, or am I to be left in the dark with this?"

Willow sighed. "Unfortunately you're going to have to wait for specifics, but trust me when I say that you and your sister will be fine. Your father may have locked me out of the main family accounts, but he forgets that he married into this family, not the other way around," she said with a smile.

Winter could only smirk at that comment. She didn't anticipate her mother keeping secrets like that.

"I'll move some things around this evening so your sister will have her allowance. You'll let Weiss know?"

"I will. But there's still the issue of the company."

Willow set her cup on a saucer and set them both on a side table. "Your father, I'm afraid, received some unfortunate news from his doctors and has been acting… brashly. A few of the investors have learned of this and we are taking care of this. Alright?"

Winter finished her coffee and set the cup aside while she processed the news. She had suspected that was the case, but knowing her mother and some of the investors were working on things was a mild reassurance. Only mild. The issue of cleaning up whatever messes Jacques was currently making was going to be a nightmare to deal with. She took a breath and sighed. "Alright. Anyway, mother, I should get going. I told Weiss I would keep her informed about what was happening."

"Of course, dear. It's always nice to have a visit from you. Be careful out there."

Winter smiled and bowed her head with a smile before she left. Out in her car, Winter grumbled to herself about everything. Seeing her mother was always a game of pleasantries. While her father was insufferable, there really was a reason the two worked so well together for years and years and why the company had grown to be as large as it did under them. Keeping on her mother's good side was the smart decision. Winter put her car in drive and by the time she was leaving the driveway, she was dialing Weiss.

"Winter?"

"Weiss, I just left mother's. It seems father got some… unfortunate news about his condition and panicked."

Weiss remained quiet.

"Anyway, mother said she's going to 'move some things around' in a bit and give you your allowance back. But, we both know mother, so let me know if your account is still in the negative."

"Alright," Weiss spoke softly. "Thank you."

"Was there anything else? If not, I am long overdue for a session at the gym. Found this new place that some of the local leagues use when-"

"Winter!"

"Right, right. Boxing's not your- anyway, be safe, tell Blake 'hi' for me, and you can always reach me if you need anything."


	24. Chapter 24

**24 - Withered Flame**

Cinder didn't show up at Yang's shop and it raised a red flag for Ruby. She had complained about feeling run down the night before but the two of them had guessed it had to do with how the two of them were out and about most of the day. Cinder had gotten to use her prosthetic full-time and Ruby was more than eager to do 'two-handed things' with her, which turned out to be all of their normal activities and simply an excuse to be out of the shop and house. But as the day turned to evening, Cinder was feeling worse. By the time Yang brought her home, all Cinder wanted to do was go to sleep.

Still, Cinder not catching the morning shuttle wasn't something to panic about, Ruby had to remind herself. She probably overslept because she wasn't feeling good. That had to be it.

'Hope you're doing ok. miss u'

The message was quick and Ruby had to hold back so she wouldn't bombard her girlfriend with messages. With Yang busy in the back and her dad at the front counter, Ruby was left to fill her own time in the office and she alternated between flipping through apps on her phone, checking her messages for any reply from Cinder, and trying to read further in the book she had brought with her. It wasn't until lunchtime that Ruby got a message back.

'Hey Red. I think I need to stay home and rest today. I have a cold or something.'

'Oh no! Need us to bring anything by?' Ruby sat up and pulled her legs up on the couch next to her.

'That's okay. I'm sorry.'

Ruby frowned. She felt like she had to do something for Cinder but she didn't know what she could do. The long pause was enough for Cinder to know what Ruby was thinking, though.

'You don't have to do anything. I just need rest.'

Ruby rolled her head back on the cushions behind her. Taiyang walked into the office as Ruby was looking back up.

"Everything alright? Isn't, uh, Cinder supposed to be here soon?" The mild pause as he tried to remember her name made Ruby smile and she swapped apps again to talk with him.

'She's sick right now with a cold she thinks'

"Ah, I see. Well, she'll get better soon." He walked over and placed a hand on Ruby's shoulder to give it a reassuring squeeze and a smile.

* * *

Cinder didn't get better soon. While she rested her fever grew and her breathing was often interrupted with heaving coughing that left her practically voiceless again. But, Cinder tried to weather through. She didn't leave her bed most of the day and tried to sleep through the fever thoughts that confused her. A few blankets weren't enough and she struggled to pull on a sweater to combat how cold she felt. When the pain in her lungs felt like glass, she weakly called for help.

The day was a blur to her. Or was it two days? Only bits and pieces felt clear. Someone had entered her room when she called out. They helped her into a car and she remembered freezing through all of her layers of clothing. Her legs were the coldest because they didn't have the luxury of hiding beneath as many layers as the rest of her. Thoughts of how that seemed to always be the case when she was sick came to mind. One half of her was always cold or too hot. The sky was dark and she wondered what time it was but when she looked at her phone she couldn't tell if it was AM or PM. It was an ambiguous hour in autumn where numbers weren't anything to judge the time of day by. When she asked, she was told it was evening.

The chairs she had to sit in were uncomfortable. Hard plastic made her back and hips ache but it was all that was available. All of the cushioned chairs had been occupied when she and the group home worker arrived. She pulled her sleeves over her hands and crossed her arms over her stomach, bending forward.

Familiarity in surroundings. Familiarity in staff. Everything felt similar and also distant as she was led into a room. Someone in scrubs asked her questions and took her temperature, listened to her lungs with a frown. Someone else came in and did something similar. Her phone kept buzzing in her hand and Cinder was having difficulty focusing on one or the other through the fevered haze.

Pneumonia, she remembered being told. The rest didn't quite make sense or was forgotten. Without the rest of the context, her brain let it go. Take the medications and rest. Her lungs burned from coughing. Always with coughing. She couldn't escape it.

In the lobby again, she remembered enough to tell the person who brought her they needed to go to the pharmacy and get her prescription.

By the time she got back home, she was ready to sleep again. Cinder nibbled on bread, drank some broth, took her medications, and remembered her phone. She sent messages she didn't remember throughout the day. A dozen messages from Ruby greeted her when she opened the messaging app. She was tired. She needed sleep. She needed to let Ruby know she was going to be okay.

'Dr and medicine. Pneumonia. Will be ok. Miss you.'

After she hit 'send' she clutched the phone to her chest and curled up under all of the blankets she had gathered to try and sleep.

* * *

Cinder was woken up by someone nudging her shoulder. It took her a bit to figure out what was going on and peel the layers of blankets away from her face and see who was there, and even longer to figure out what was happening. A mug of soup was set on the nightstand next to her bed and she remembered being told to eat it and take her medications. The numbers on the clock didn't make sense since she remembered it being dark out and there was no way she could have slept for over twelve hours.

She groaned and sat up, coughing while she felt everything inside shift and settle again. Her lungs felt full and ached. She must have coughed a lot in her sleep. But, Cinder ate the soup and took her prescriptions like she was told and fell back asleep. It was dark again when she woke and looked at her phone. It was dead. She almost fell out of bed when she dug for the charging cable and plugged it in.

This time someone brought her a sandwich with her soup and she ate it all and took her medications again.

She wasn't sure if she actually slept or if she stared at the ceiling for a long period of time, but she eventually turned her phone on to find a bunch of messages from Ruby. All of them made Cinder feel guilty for not charging her phone sooner.

'I'm feeling a little bit better,' she messaged her girlfriend. It was late.

'I was so worried are you ok?'

Cinder wasn't expecting a response so immediately, but then again she also knew Ruby. 'I'll be okay. I just need lots of rest and to keep taking my meds.' She blinked a few times and read over the message before hitting send. The low light and brightness of her phone was hard on her eyes but she knew if she turned on the lamp the bright light would be even worse. She fiddled with the settings to turn the brightness down and relaxed.

'Should we come get you? Did you want to sleep on the couch or in the guest bed again?'

Cinder smiled at the thought. 'Maybe in a day or two. It's probably better if I sleep up first.'

'Right right. Also I'm sorry for messaging you so much.'

'Don't be sorry, Red. It was nice waking up to messages from you.' Cinder shifted to sit up again so she could breathe easier.

'Ok you get more rest so we can get you sooner!'

'Alright. Will do.'

'I mean it!'

'I know. Also, you should sleep, too. It's late.' Cinder turned on her side to try and get comfortable while sitting up but it wasn't any use. She set her phone on the nightstand to charge and pulled the blankets back up before closing her eyes.

* * *

Ruby impatiently waited day after day for Cinder to be well again. It left her with too much time to think about things and she came to the conclusion that a few things from her childhood made more sense now that she understood the context. The way her father would fret when she or her sister got sick, the anxiety she felt when Yang would get sick, the anxiety she felt when Cinder got sick… It was all related. It took a talk with Yang for the pieces to fit together, but she finally understood. Though, understanding did nothing to ease the actual anxiety she felt.

She tried to hide her anxieties from Cinder, but Ruby wasn't able to lie so easily about them. Memories of her mother were few and far between. Things came to her in glimpses and feelings more than actual memories because of how young she was when she lost her. Yang explained that it was illness that took Ruby's mother, Summer, from the family. Ruby knew this. Or, more she never thought about it but the hospital visits when she was young made more sense then. Her mother in a bed with indirect sunlight filtered through thin curtains, clear tubing up and over her ears and down to her nose, the tubes to her arm, the wires to machines. It all made more sense.

Ruby rolled onto her side on the couch and stared at the television, not really paying attention to anything. She had tried to watch one of her favorite movies but found she couldn't concentrate on it since Cinder wasn't replying to any messages yet. She had to reassure herself that she was just sleeping. Cinder would get better. Her frustrations at Yang for not taking her over to Cinder's to see her kept bubbling up at times when she felt restless, but she trusted Cinder to tell her the truth when she said she was feeling better.

A buzz of her phone broke her thoughts and Ruby immediately checked her messages.

'Hey Red'

'Cinny!'

'Just woke up. How's your day been going?'

Ruby pushed down her instinct to playfully chide Cinder for getting up at four in the afternoon and instead moved on to answer. 'It's been boring. I miss you. When can you come over againnnn?'

'I'm sorry, and I miss you too. And I would offer now but I would need to shower and get ready and I'd miss the last shuttle but I'm still feeling kinda tired.'

The anxiety tightened Ruby's stomach again. 'That's okay! You need rest'

'I know, but I still feel bad.'

'Don't feel bad about it. I'm sorry for being a mess about you being sick'

'I think it's cute.'

Ruby sat up on the couch so she could message easier, the position she was in before causing her arm to go numb. 'You… you think I'm cute?' Ruby teased Cinder knowing it would make her smile on the other end. 'But we're both girls'

'Oh shush lol'

The more Ruby talked with Cinder, the more the knot in her stomach loosened, and eventually, she was feeling more at ease.


	25. Chapter 25

**25 - Options in Frost**

"I'm still not sure how I let you talk me into these things," Yang muttered painfully as she stepped out of the boxing ring. She knew there was going to be bruised and sore later but damn if it didn't feel good to let out some of the aggression she had built up. She looked over her shoulder to see Winter finally climbing out of the ring as well. "You okay over there, snowflake?"

"Fine," Winter groaned and collapsed into a nearby chair to fiddle with her gloves to get them off. "What about you? Feeling any better?" She grinned and turned her head to Yang. "You look a lot more relaxed, anyway. Or is that just tired? Either way, told you this is what you needed."

"Which part? The boxing, or kicking your ass?" Yang walked towards Winter and pulled her gloves off. Winter handed a bottle of water up to her.

"Take your pick," Winter laughed and opened a bottle of water for herself. They were both quiet save for the sound of heavy breathing while they tried to catch their breath.

"I'm going with kicking your ass then," Yang shot back and downed half of her water. She gasped for air after and groaned while sitting down next to her sparring partner. "I feel like that was a long time coming." She leaned her head back over the back of the chair to stare at the ceiling. Where the chairs were positioned, the air conditioning blew right on the two women and Yang intended to take full advantage of that to cool down.

"Fair enough," Winter answered and followed suit to lean back in the air conditioning next to Yang. "We should shower, change, and then how does a burger at the one place sound? Hoppy Burgers or something?"

"Hoppy Buns. And that sounds alright. But in a minute. I don't want to leave this air conditioning."

"Yes. In a minute. I need more of this AC, too." The two women sat in the cooled air not wanting to get up.

* * *

Yang grabbed a napkin to wipe at the barbecue sauce dripping down her chin with one hand, holding her burger in the other. She glanced over to see a similar mess of sauce dripping down Winter's face as well. Nothing beat a post-workout fatty burger. The patties and cheese and bacon and onion rings and homemade barbecue sauce sandwiched between a bun… bursting and dripping with grease… It would sit heavy in their stomachs but it was just what they needed.

Winter had pushed harder than she did before during the workout and challenged Yang to fight with her in the ring knowing how it would wind up ending. Each blow to her was cathartic and therapeutic for each of them.

Setting down her burger, Yang took a drink from her soda and sat back with a content sigh. "So, any thought about what to do next?" Her head lazily turned to Winter and she watched her finish her bite.

"I thought I'd go home and take a long nap after this, honestly."

Yang rolled her eyes. "You know what I meant."

Winter set her burger down and wiped at her mouth with a napkin. "Mm, yeah. And that was me avoiding the question because I don't know yet."

"You just got handed an out. I don't see why you shouldn't take it. Besides, didn't what's-his-name at the gym offer you a job, you said?" Yang raised an eyebrow and reached for a couple of fries to eat.

"James? Yeah, he did. Not sure if I want to take it, though. I mean, I spent all this time on a degree to help the family business. Years learning the ins and outs of it."

"I think you're being an idiot if you don't take it," Yang said matter-of-factly and shrugged before sitting back up and reaching for her burger again. "But that's just me. Plus, you look better in this than you do a suit." She nodded her head to Winter's jeans and tee-shirt, her choice of casual wear for the day.

The autumn breeze picked up and rustled the papers on their trays, but neither woman shivered. The cool breeze felt refreshing. Yang stretched her legs out and leaned back while she finished her food. Winter could only smirk at the comment about her appearance. "I'll think about it," she said with a chuckle.

Yang rolled her eyes again and finished the last bite of her burger. "Just take it. Who knows how long the mess with your fuckwit of a father will take, and you said yourself your mom's not a ton better. So, you need to do something at least."

"Yeah, yeah. I'll go in and talk with him tomorrow," Winter conceded and sat back in the chair.

* * *

Blake finished ringing up a customer and left the counter to put a few books back on the shelves. She found Weiss looking through a section of magazines reading an article about her family's company. Moving quietly, Blake tapped her on the shoulders which made Weiss jump and drop the magazine.

"Jeez, Blake!"

Blake started laughing and bent over to pick the magazine up. "Sorry. I couldn't resist. I wanted to let you know I take my break in a sec, though."

Weiss took a few breaths to calm herself back down and nodded, hardly processing what the other woman told her. She gave Blake a playful shove. "Don't scare me like that."

"I'm sorry. But, I was thinking of heading to the corner to grab a snack soon if you wanted to go with me." Blake smiled and handed the magazine back to Weiss who only took it and sighed. "My treat?"

The offer brought a smile to Weiss' face and she softly nodded. "Alright."

"Have any of the places you applied called you back yet?"

Weiss shook her head. "Not yet. I had a lot of catching up to do to even pass midterms." She picked her bag up from the ground next to her and slung it over her shoulder. "I'm going to start looking again, though. At the end of the semester I just… I can't go back home. I won't do it. I need to figure something out since I can't just stay in that dorm all break, either."

Blake let Weiss go first and placed a hand on the middle of her back to guide her towards the front. "I'll let you know if anything changes here, but we haven't been hiring for a couple months now. Have you tried the school library, though? Reese said they're usually in need of people."

"Is that where she works?"

Blake shook her head. "No, but the teacher she TA's for has her running errands over there a lot. Worth checking out at least, right?"

"Yeah…" Weiss trailed off and stopped by the registers at the front of the store and turned to Blake. "Hey, Blake?"

"Hmm?"

"Thank you."

Blake smiled. "Of course. Now, let's go. I've only got fifteen," she laughed.

* * *

Blake accepted her card back from the cashier and nodded her head in thanks as she slipped her card back in her wallet. Weiss stood next to her at the register of the small corner store scrolling through a news article on her phone for the latest information about the Schnee company.

"You're going to have to stop doing that. It's only making your worries worse," Blake commented and nodded in thanks to the cashier and taking the small bag handed to her. On the way out the door she nudged Weiss with her elbow to get her attention that they were leaving. "Besides, didn't Winter tell you to not worry so much about it? She and your mom are handling things. I didn't think you even wanted to go into the business."

Weiss groaned and slipped her phone into her handbag. "I don't. And you're right, I shouldn't care. I shouldn't. I don't. But I also do."

Blake reached in the bag to pull out the bottle of orange juice to hand to Weiss. "Look, I know you're stressing about a lot of things but you really need to stop looking at articles online."

Weiss twisted the lid off of her juice and took a drink from it. She quietly nodded in response to Blake and kept quiet. The whole day had been a blurred mess of worries for her and she didn't want to learn more about what her father was doing, but she felt compelled to keep looking. Blake saw her hand on her bag and nudged her to stop her from pulling her phone out again.

"Why don't you head back to my room? Reese is there and can let you in. I've only got a couple hours of my shift left, and then maybe the three of us can figure out something to do. She's been interested in spending more time with me lately."

"Think she likes you?" Weiss teased with a smirk.

"Why? You jealous?" Blake laughed. "But really, I think she's just feeling a bit down since one of her friends had to drop out." She sifted through the bag and pulled out the granola bar she got for herself and handed the bag to Weiss. The other girl looked at her with a bit of question to her expression. "Just take it back to the room."

"Alright," Weiss replied with a smile. "I'll go hang out with Reese, I guess."

Blake chuckled. "Alright then. I'll see you two in a bit," she smiled and kept going to the bookstore while Weiss waved and turned down a side street to head back to Beacon.


	26. Chapter 26

**26 - A Late Celebration**

Ruby sat impatiently while she waited for the nurse to come back in. Both Yang and Cinder were with her in the room. They offered to wait out in the waiting room since they weren't sure if she would want them with her to see her leg pre-cleaning, but she insisted they be there.

When the nurse returned with the tools needed to cut through the cast, Yang and Cinder moved out of the way to let him in. Yang let Cinder take the free chair and she stood next to her with her hand on her shoulder while the nurse set about removing the cast from Ruby's leg. From the distance they were at, they could already smell the funk as the cast was opening up.

"Oh, wow, Ruby, that is ripe," Yang laughed and turned her head. Cinder kept a tight smile to try and not breathe it in.

Ruby frowned at Yang. She had to resist the urge to squirm as the vibrations of the saw tickled her leg. When it was finally cut through and peeled off she stared at it with wide eyes. The layers of dead skin and dark hair poking through on her now skinny leg fascinated her. She went to get up but the doctor stopped her.

"Careful, it's going to take a bit for you to get back to walking how you did before. Expect some soreness and stiffness. I'd recommend using your crutches for a little bit more and easing into using your leg more. There's some stretches I'd recommend you do, and our physical therapist can help you with those. You're familiar with him?"

Ruby nodded with a smile.

"Good, good. He's still here if you'd like to head down there. I can have someone wheel you-"

"That's alright," Yang interrupted. "We can take her down to see him." She smiled.

"Alright, fair enough. I'll have someone come in and finish up with you and you'll be free to head down to see him," the nurse concluded and began to set the saw and cast pieces aside.

* * *

It was only when the three were about to leave the room that they realized they forgot to bring a sock or shoe for Ruby's now freed foot and she was given a pair of slipper socks. The entire way to the physical therapy room, Ruby kept trying to bend her knee and flex her joints only to frown and wince with how sore they were. Having the cast removed wasn't quite what she was expecting, especially with her inability to put much weight on it because of that, and the difference in height from not having a shoe on one foot wasn't helping.

In the physical therapy room, Woolsey was delighted to see both Cinder and Ruby again. While it wasn't long since he had seen them last, it was a cause for celebration in Ruby finally being free from the cast. While he went over various stretches and exercises that were important with Ruby, Yang slipped away to check her phone.

Ruby's birthday had come and gone. Between Cinder's pneumonia, a bit of rescheduling needing to be done for her cast to be removed, and the influx of business at the auto shop, there hadn't been much time to do anything major in celebration of it. While nineteen wasn't as big as eighteen, it was still her birthday and both Yang and Cinder felt guilty for being unable to do anything major for it yet. Despite her reassurances that they didn't need to do anything for it, the two knew that Ruby was a little low because of everything, too.

Yang felt confident about the plans for her sister's belated birthday plans, especially with the help Cinder had provided. The two of them had managed to get all of the planning done without her finding out, much to the relief of Yang and Cinder both. Taiyang, for all of his trying over the years, felt it easier to leave the planning to Yang when it came to Ruby's birthday. He accepted his role as the one to ensure things happened as planned and took a step back from the actual planning itself.

Ruby saw Yang slip away from the room and she turned to Cinder with a quizzical look only to have Cinder tell her it was probably work-related, but Cinder knew otherwise.

The presents were the easy part. Yang and Cinder went in together to get a coat that Ruby had her eye on; a red jacket with black stitching and zipper, fleece-lined through the whole body, sleeves, and hood. Along with that, Yang picked up what she personally thought was an abundance of candy, and Cinder got her the sequel to the book they were currently reading.

The rest of it was the hard part. Ruby had expressed not wanting a large party and Yang figured it was due in part to how things with the previous friend group they were all in fell apart. After the events of the summer, she couldn't blame her, either. But, she still wanted to do something special for her. Cinder suggested a fun night in; food and movies. Yang considered it and agreed but still wanted to make it a little different.

Outside, Yang called her dad.

"Yang?"

"Hey, dad. Almost done here, so we should be back soon. Everything set?"

"Uhh… Give me about twenty minutes and it will be. Last batch of cookies is in the oven, and food should be here not long after you get back. I've got the living room all set up, though."

"Alright. Perfect."

"I'll see you kids in a bit. Drive safe."

"Will do. See you soon, dad."

* * *

The entire ride back to the house was quiet and uneventful. Ruby took the front seat next to Yang and spent most of the ride home playing with the long dark hairs that had grown on her leg from being in the cast for so long. After some practicing with Woolsey before they left, Ruby was able to bend her knee a little bit more, but it would still take some time for the full movement to come back to her.

In the back seat, Cinder scrolled through apps on her phone trying to distract herself and the giddy feeling that grew the closer they got to Ruby's house. A couple of times, she caught Yang smiling at her in the rearview mirror and Cinder grinned back. The two were amazed that they had managed to pull things off without Ruby finding out.

Once Yang pulled into the driveway, she got out to help Ruby down and Cinder slid out to do the same. While Cinder helped Ruby get situated with one of her crutches, Yang opened the front door for the two girls to enter.

Just inside Ruby could already tell that something was different. The smell of freshly baked cookies alerted her, and when she got her shoe off and moved further in she could see the red streamers up in the living room. Along the back wall was a white sheet hanging down and a huge pile of pillows and beanbag chairs and blankets in a nest across from it. On a small table just behind that was a projector aimed at the sheet. She turned around to look at Yang with a confused expression but was only met with a knowing grin. Ruby turned to Cinder who only smiled back as well.

Around the corner, Taiyang entered the room with a large plate of cookies and shouted, "Happy Birthday!"

Yang joined in. "Happy birthday, sis."

Cinder grinned. "Happy birthday, Red."

Ruby looked between the three of them and was genuinely surprised by it all. She started to tear up and both Yang and Cinder pulled her into a hug. Taiyang had to set the tray of cookies down but joined in right after.

With a bit of a frantic patting of her pockets, Ruby dug her phone out. 'OMG what is all of this?'

Her dad took the question. "We felt bad that we didn't get to really do something for you on your birthday, so we decided to surprise you later with it. Hope you're okay with cookies instead of cake, and pizza should be here any time now. And those breadsticks you like. I remembered." He tousled Ruby's hair and kissed her on the top of the head.

"In a little bit when it gets darker, and after you shower, we can start the movies." Yang nodded towards the sheet on the wall and the projector.

"We got that ninja trilogy you were talking about a few weeks ago," Cinder told her.

Ruby tried to hug all three of them as tight as she could but her arms would only partially reach around Yang and Cinder. Taiyang laughed and kissed the top of her head again.

"Before that, though, we got you a little something," Yang told her and their dad took that as the cue to grab the presents from the guest room.

"Let's go sit down first," Cinder whispered with a laugh.

"Right, right," Yang laughed.

The three girls moved to the couch and let Ruby get comfortable. When Taiyang came back in, he set the packages next to Ruby who could only blink in surprise at them.

"Open the large one first," Yang encouraged her.

Ruby took the larger package and shredded through the paper to pull out the jacket. Her eyes went wide and she looked between the three people in front of her, then back to the jacket, then the three people again.

"Try it on," Cinder smiled.

Ruby could hardly contain herself as she pulled her current long-sleeved shirt off, leaving herself in just a tee-shirt underneath, and tried the coat on. The grin on her face was enough to know that the coat was the perfect pick. Everything else was extra.

Each other present Ruby opened, she seemed to get more and more excited until she finally jumped up, wincing only slightly as she moved her leg, and hugged each of her family members and her girlfriend. 'This is all perfect' She typed out rapidly on her phone.

"Alright, birthday girl, why don't you go wash up and we'll get things ready out here for when you're done," Yang laughed.

Ruby gave them all one last hug but paused to give Cinder a kiss before she went off to take a shower. Taiyang raised an eyebrow and looked at Cinder who immediately felt embarrassed and had a furious blush to her cheeks. Before he could say something, Yang patted him on the shoulder. "Ruby's nineteen, dad," Yang reminded him with a laugh.

"Alright, alright," he conceded.

The three prepared the first movie for when Ruby got out. It didn't take long before the food arrived, and soon everything was prepared for Ruby's birthday movie marathon.


	27. Chapter 27

**27 - Festivities and Bittersweet Tidings**

Windy days gave way to rain and showers, dustings of snow, creeping chills. Without her cast, Ruby felt more agile and began to build back some of the muscle definition that had since atrophied hidden from the light. Standing on her own two feet was more liberating than anything she felt in months, and she was ecstatic to be able to share that feeling with Cinder. The two's two-handed activities turned to two-legged activities as well, which meant nothing more than Cinder having to try and keep up with the quick pace that Ruby set when they would go for walks, head through stores, and overall spend time together. The slow pace from before was something Cinder had grown accustomed to and needed to really adjust with to avoid playful teasing and prodding from Ruby for being slow.

When the leaves finished falling and the afternoons grew darker, Cinder was reminded of all the time she spent with her grandmother the year before. Holidays were always such a hard time for her when she was younger, and seeing other kids excited about presents and family made her envious. But from the time she fell under her grandmother's care, she never felt left out. But the first holiday season after losing her was going to be rough.

For Ruby, holidays meant sweets, particularly homemade sweets. It meant time with her sister, her father, a quick once a year hour-long visit from her "aunt" Raven that always called her "kid" instead of her name and gave her a notched pack of cards from a casino she worked at, and her uncle Qrow giving her and Yang inappropriate gifts. When she was nine, Ruby remembered the hunting knives Qrow had given Yang and her which their father confiscated as soon as their uncle left. Two years later it was bows and arrows. One year Ruby got a replica sword, much to Taiyang's dismay. After many, many long talks, Taiyang and Qrow settled on fireworks- legal fireworks- that the girls could set off on New Year's Eve.

Yang made preparations at the auto shop for it to be closed for the holidays. She finished the snow tire orders, Taiyang and she finished all the work orders that they could to meet the customers' expectations, all so they could take a long weekend without worry.

* * *

"Ugh, Ruby, grab the- Yeah, that," Yang huffed as she and Cinder put the leaf into the dinner table. Ruby swooped in to pull one of the chairs out of the way while the two got the table pushed together. "Thanks, Rubes. Can you help me with the tablecloth?"

Cinder stepped away from the table and took a seat in one of the chairs that was sitting to the side. "What else needs to be done?" she asked and looked over to Yang.

Yang glanced at her while smoothing out the dark blue tablecloth. "You can go relax. We're almost done. Dad's finishing the food, gonna have Ruby help me set the table, and that should be it. So, don't worry about it."

"Are you sure?" Cinder looked between Ruby and Yang.

"Yeah, you're good. Should just be a minute. Don't need many places anyway. Mom never comes for dinner, and it's not like we have some huge extended family." Yang shrugged. "So, go on, relax."

The extra bit of encouragement was all Cinder needed. She wandered into the living room and settled on the couch, tugging the sleeve on her left arm down a bit to cover more of her prosthetic. She felt lucky that it hadn't needed many tweaks or adjustments since getting it, but it was still new to her and she worried about breaking it since it didn't have feeling and nerves. She couldn't often tell if it was resting or touching things it shouldn't be. If it was hot or cold. She stared at the appendage beneath the fabric of her sweater when her thoughts were interrupted by a knocking at the door.

Cinder was about to call for someone when Yang jogged into the room and answered the door. "I was wondering if you'd even show," Yang greeted the person at the door.

"I almost didn't," the woman at the door replied. Yang stepped aside to let them in and from where Cinder sat she could see white hair that made her freeze.

"Didn't want to stand me up, I take it?" Yang smirked.

Winter rolled her eyes and bent over to take her boots off. "One of us has to have follow-through. Also, I wasn't sure what to bring, so I hope this is alright." She handed a bag to Yang. "It's just wine and a bunch of holiday chocolates. The company sends them out every year and I guess I'm still on the mailing list for that. But, it's at least nice wine and candy." She stood up and took her coat off to hang up.

"Anything candy is perfect. Ruby won't let it go to waste," Yang laughed.

Cinder fidgeted with the hem of her sweater with one hand and tried to distract herself with her phone with the other. When Yang and Winter turned to enter the living room, Yang motioned to Cinder. "Oh, this is Cinder, Ruby's girlfriend. Cinder, Winter. Winter, Cinder." She motioned between them as an introduction and Cinder smiled politely, if not a bit awkwardly.

Winter smiled and gazed at Cinder a moment. "Cinder… Fall?"

Cinder nodded. "Uh, yeah," she mumbled.

Winter grinned at the recognition. "I remember you."

Yang looked between them with a raised brow, curious how the two knew each other. The expression on Cinder's face left her hesitant if she should step in or not.

"I apologize for how all of that turned out," Winter frowned at the memory. "Have you kept up with…" Her question trailed off leaving Yang still in the dark.

Cinder shook her head feeling only mildly more at ease, but thankful the initial tension was gone. "I haven't." Her response was short, not wanting to push the conversation.

"Alright, uhh, let's go put this in the kitchen," Yang cut in and nudged Winter's arm.

"Oh, right, right," Winter answered. She gave Cinder a smile and nod before following Yang into the other room. Not long after Ruby came in and sat down next to Cinder.

'I didn't expect Winter to actually show up.' Ruby lifted her phone for Cinder to read while scooting closer to her girlfriend. 'It's weird, right?'

Cinder swapped apps on her phone to message Ruby so nobody could hear them. 'Are they dating?'

'Idk. Yang denies it but they've been spending a lot of time together lately'

'That's who she's been hanging out with?' Cinder looked at Ruby in a bit of confusion.

'Yeah'

'Are you alright? Like, with her being here and that?'

Ruby shrugged. 'If she makes Yang happy, I guess. I don't really care either way. Yang hasn't been slamming stuff and yelling at work as much so that's nice. She does seem happier, right? I'm not just imagining things?'

'No, she does.' Cinder couldn't deny that Yang did seem to be less tense to be around the past few weeks. Before Cinder could comment further, both Yang and Winter entered the room and cut her thoughts short. Seeing the smile on Yang's face was undeniable, even if it was hidden under a sarcastic scowl.

* * *

Any awkwardness felt by guests at the Xiao Long holiday dinner table dissipated once the meal was underway. It wasn't long before dinner actually began that Qrow arrived, cardboard box of fireworks and bottles of what could be called wine in color and name only in tow. The fact they were carried in the same box together, and most likely bought at the same location, should have been cause enough for alarm for anyone willing to try and drink the contents of the bottles.

Qrow was the only one to drink any of the wine he brought.

When dinner was finished, Ruby and Cinder moved back to the living room to talk. In the middle of a discussion about the book series they were reading, Winter dashed through while on her phone.

"-ou need any help? I can be there soon," Winter spoke with a sense of urgency into the phone and came to a stop next to the coat rack.

"It's been snowing pretty hard out there," Cinder spoke up, cautious to not interrupt the phone call, but still wanting to warn her.

Ruby wasn't sure what was going on, but she got up from the couch to go get Yang when Yang entered the room as well. Qrow and Taiyang could be heard in the dining area laughing at some story or other one of them told.

Winter was quiet while she listened on the phone. She turned to see Yang and the others around her. "Uh-huh. So-" She was cut off again. "Alright, well, if you change your mind, let me know and I'll head over." She sighed.

Cinder stepped close and put her right hand on Ruby's arm to guide her back to the couch. The motion surprised Ruby but she didn't fight it and followed her girlfriend's lead. "Best to be out of the way, I think," she whispered and Ruby nodded. They got comfortable again.

"Alright… Let me know if you need me and I'll be there. Yes… Yes, I love you, too, mother." Winter ended the call and shoved her phone into her back pocket after not seeing a surface to set it on right away. She ran her hands through her hair and groaned. "So!" she exclaimed with a laugh.

"You alright?" Yang asked with a raised brow.

"Father has been removed from the company. Or, is being removed right now. Mother held a vote and he is being forcibly retired and being moved to a care facility," Winter laughed. The shock of it was hitting her and the processing of information hadn't quite left her with the full weight of everything, so all she could do was laugh.

"That's good, right? Isn't that what you wanted to have happen?" Yang lightly took Winter by the arm and brought her around into the living room proper to sit in a chair.

Seeing the scene playing out, Ruby and Cinder looked at each other and were about to get up. Cinder was about to ask if they should leave when Winter glanced over to them. "You're fine. It's all going to be in the news by tonight anyway," she laughed and leaned her head back to look at the ceiling.

"This is a good thing?" Yang asked again.

"Oh, yes," Winter blinked to attention and looked at Yang who stood next to her. "It is."

"You can get your old job back then, right? And take over the company?"

"Potentially, yes. The investors weren't happy with mother and I being forced out those weeks ago. Probably because we actually listened to what their concerns were rather than act the jackass and push forward. But, I'm not sure I even want to go back."

Yang laughed.

"I'm serious, though."

"Hey, I wasn't making fun of you. I was laughing as an 'I told you so' instead."

Winter smacked Yang's leg with the back of her hand. "Not the time, you."

Ruby and Cinder started to message back and forth on the couch, their interest in the Schnee family affairs had drifted. After hearing the major drama of Jacques losing the company they tuned out to continue talking about the books they were reading.

"You take the trainer job under Ironwood, then? Have any big-name clients, yet?" Yang grinned.

Winter rolled her eyes. "It's only been a few weeks. I'm still training. But I'm thinking of staying."

Yang scooted the ottoman closer to sit on while she talked with Winter. "You already know what I'm going to suggest. You even said your mother isn't a whole lot better to work for."

"Less explosive, but I'm through working for family like that," Winter sighed. "Plus, I have much better things to do in my free time now that I actually have free time."

A series of giggles interrupted Yang's thoughts and she turned to see Ruby and Cinder looking away trying to stifle their laughter. "What are you two laughing at over there?" Ruby held up her phone with 'nothing' typed out but all it got was Yang groaning and rolling her eyes. "Yeah, yeah. I expected this from Ruby, but Cinder… My sister is a bad influence on you," she said and shook her head.

Ruby tossed a decorative pillow at Yang who caught it and tossed it back hitting Ruby in the face.

"Calm down out there!" Taiyang yelled from the dining area. "I hear throwing. If you're gonna do that, go outside."

"Sorry, dad!" Yang called out.

"Sorry, Mr. Xiao Long!" Cinder called out.

"It's Mister Xiao Long now, huh?" Qrow teased loud enough for everyone to hear and both he and Taiyang started laughing while entering the living room.

"Shush, Qrow. Don't make me lose credibility in front of my kids," Taiyang laughed.

"Oh, that happened a long time ago, old man," Qrow reassured him.

"Everything alright out here, though?" Taiyang asked. He stepped closer to Yang and set his hand on her shoulder.

Winter nodded. "It's alright. The Schnee company is uh- changing owners, so to speak. And Yang was saying I should keep my current job."

"That rat bastard's gone and got himself in trouble again, huh?" Qrow asked, inserting himself into the conversation. Taiyang elbowed him. "What? Isn't that what she just said?"

"More or less," Winter admitted.

Qrow motioned with an expression that seemed to say 'see?'

"Alright, alright, let's get out of the kids' hair for now. We'll take out the pies and such in a bit." Taiyaing herded Qrow back to the dining room to leave the rest of them to their conversations. Before he fully left the room he reminded them, "Okay, but really, no throwing things. It'll rile your uncle up and we know how that goes." He pointed to the carpet in the living room before slipping back out of sight.

"Do I want to know?" Winter asked. Cinder was equally curious as well.

Yang sighed. "Uncle Qrow got a bit too into things and spilled candles on the carpet, along with some of his 'wine' and it caused a fire which then set off some of the fireworks he brought. It's why we don't have candles in here when he's visiting anymore. And why we keep his wine in the kitchen and fireworks in the garage now."

Ruby nudged Cinder and pointed to a spot on the ceiling where the faint outline of a hole was tried to be patched over. 'When Yang and I were younger he would play games with us to try and see who could touch the ceiling by jumping. He jumped too hard and his hand went through the ceiling.'

Cinder nodded and tried to stifle a laugh. The thought of that same man doing that was… comical.

'Go ahead and laugh. It was pretty funny lol'

"What are you two giggling about now?" Yang turned with a grin. Ruby pointed to the spot on the ceiling and Yang started laughing, too. "That's right. When he put his hand through the ceiling. I forgot about that. Oh, what about when he tried to fix your tricycle and got mad at it for having too many wheels and got you a new bike instead?"

Ruby started laughing and tapped out a message quickly. 'Remember the potted cactus on the porch?'

Yang almost broke down into a fit of giggles as she remembered, Ruby soon after. Winter and Cinder looked at each other, lightly chuckling, curious what was so funny about the cactus on the porch story.

Qrow came back in and looked between his nieces, seeing them wiping tears away from laughing so hard. "What's going on this time?" He glanced over to see the mention of the cactus and rolled his eyes. "That story? You two never explain it properly. You leave out how that thing was cursed. Just ask Raven," he muttered while taking a seat on the edge of the couch to begin telling the story right.

* * *

The rest of the afternoon was spent with the girls sitting around listening to Qrow and Taiyang telling stories. Stories of scars and embarrassments turned to competing stories of scars and embarrassments the longer the day went on. The wine Winter had brought was drunk and the stories gained some embellishments. All of it carried on into the night and soon darkness had set in, and with it more snow and ice. Once eleven hit, everyone was winding down. And by midnight, Cinder and Ruby had fallen asleep on the couch.

Qrow retired to Taiyang's room to leave the girls to their own devices, and Taiyang followed soon after once he put away the last of the desserts. "You girls going to be alright out here?"

"We'll be fine, dad," Yang smiled. "Glad I told you to get the cot out of the garage yesterday, though?"

"Yeah, yeah, you were right," he shook his head. "Always prepare for Qrow to stay the night," he laughed. "Anyway, goodnight. And, doing the mandatory dad routine here, but nothing funny going on, alright?"

Yang rolled her eyes. "Got it." She handed a few blankets to Winter who draped them over Ruby and Cinder on the couch, not wanting to wake them. Yang laid out another couple of blankets on the mattress pad on the floor. "Sorry, this is the best we've got right now. I'd have offered the guest room, but it's got some of Cinder's stuff in there right now."

"Oh no, this is perfect. I didn't expect to get stuck here, anyway. But it's like a sleepover," she laughed.

"I guess it is," Yang shrugged and finished dropping some pillows down. "Anyway, the plows usually pass here at about five, and I'll help dig you the rest of the way out in the morning."

"Thanks," Winter smiled. "Goodnight, Yang."

"Night." Yang wandered down the hall to grab her pillow out of her room and flipped off all of the lights as she reentered the living room. The temperature difference between the two rooms was massive and she was thankful everyone decided to sleep out in the living room. She got down to lay on a mattress pad next to the couch, letting Winter take the one closer to the heater.

It didn't take long before everyone had fallen asleep, the festivities of the day wearing them out.


	28. Chapter 28

**28 - Two Moves Ahead**

With the holidays over, fireworks lit, the new year was brought in with minimal injuries. Qrow singed the hair off of one of his arms, and the only casualty was a patch of grass the size of a dinner plate.

The first weekend of the year had Cinder preparing to move into her newly built house. Inspections were done, the electricians and plumbers made sure everything was connected right and ready to go. She was the proud owner of a new home. But, despite this, she also felt apprehension about moving in. The lot was different than she remembered. It was the same in many ways, and different in so many others, but the similarities caused enough memories to come back reminding her why she had a house in the first place.

Ruby carried a trash bag filled with clothes in the front door and dropped it on the ground in the empty living room of Cinder's house. Behind her, Yang and Taiyang brought in a small nightstand and a box of books. Cinder brought up the rear with a final box containing the rest of her possessions. Everything she owned had fit into the back of Yang's truck.

"This is really it?" Yang asked while looking around. "It's a little… bare." She turned to look at Cinder who set down the box.

"It's all I've got right now. I've got a bedroll in the master bedroom, and a lamp in there, too. But, yeah. I ordered a couple of things but that stuff won't be here until next week." Cinder awkwardly smiled and grabbed her left arm with her right hand, shrugging.

"Your plan was to stay in an empty house until then?" Taiyang asked, doing his best 'fatherly voice' impression he could. He walked towards the kitchen and sighed. "You have the appliances but nothing to cook with. No, you're coming back with us," he said firmly.

"No- no, that's okay! I can just order something. I'll be fine. Really," Cinder protested. Ruby stepped next to Cinder and put her hand on her shoulder. She didn't have to say anything and Cinder could read the expression. "Alright, fine," she said, feeling defeated.

"Alright, grab what you need, and then back in the truck. I'm sure Rubes here has already made list after list of things she wants when she moves in here, so we can make a more official shopping list tomorrow or something," Yang said and smirked. "And, we talked about it," she added, turning to her dad as a warning.

"I wasn't saying anything," Taiyang held his hands up defensively and laughed. "But if the two of you are moving in here, we're definitely going to need to get you better set up than… this." He pointed to the nightstand and bag of clothes in the floor.

Ruby walked over to grab the bag of clothes back up and cinder turned to kneel and dig through the box she carried in. Removing her bag and tucking a few cables inside, her phone, and everything else she could think of that she needed, she got up. "Alright, ready."

* * *

Weiss pushed a book cart stacked with returns down the aisle while she looked for the correct spot of one specific book. The system told her it should be on the shelf in front of her but she wasn't seeing the right spot to slip it back on the shelf. With a sigh, she set the book back onto the cart and walked to the end of the aisle to peek at the clock.

"Almost done," she whispered to herself and returned to the shelf in question when her eye immediately caught the right spot. Instances of missing things were happening more frequently for her and she assumed it had to do with stress. Between working and trying to find somewhere to live, her entire winter break had blown by with little regard to anything else. It was the first holiday season that she could remember where she didn't spend it at home with her family and it was… nice. There was no worrying about how her father was going to react to anything, no trying to avoid scrutiny before any important business contacts came over for a party, and definitely no having to avoid the gaze of those business contacts' sons.

The news of her father being forced from the family company and sent to a care facility didn't reach her until almost the new year. Sometime during her weekend spent with Blake and Reese, her phone had died and she didn't bother recharging it. The couple days of no worry and stress was liberating.

Footsteps pulled Weiss from her thoughts and she looked up to see Reese approaching. Weiss rolled her eyes and smiled with a laugh. "What is it this time?" she grinned.

"Oh please, like I'd come to you for help here. I've been in here enough I could do your job five times faster."

Weiss sighed and set the books she was holding back on the cart. "You're probably right. Anyway, what's Oobleck have you doing now?"

"Right now? Nothing. He's busy with whatever. Figured I'd stop in and see how you're holding up in here. Pretty boring, isn't it?"

Weiss shrugged. "I don't mind it. It's quiet. Gets me out of my room."

"Oh gods, is it still-" Reese looked concerned.

"No, no, no. I'm all cleaned and packed."

The relief was visible in both Reese's face and body language. She relaxed immensely.

"Good. I did not want to help out cleaning again. I even had an excuse prepared and everything. But! About your room situation- don't give me that look. Just listen. Stop being a stubborn butt."

Weiss' look of protest was soon squashed flat.

"One of the places Blake and I've been looking at has a three-bedroom available if you wanted to go threesies with us. Be nice to have something with a full kitchen and our own bedrooms." Reese shrugged. "Think about it."

Indecision spread over Weiss and she didn't know what to say. It was true she needed to find somewhere to move before the semester started. In fact, she wasn't sure if she was even still allowed to be in the room or not but since nobody said otherwise, she hadn't left yet. If it was a perk of having her last name, she didn't know but thought it might have been. The impending forcible eviction loomed over her regardless and her options were running out.

"Really, you don't have to make a decision right now. But, we wanted to offer it since, well, it works for all of us," Reese grinned.

Weiss nodded. "I, uh, I'm off soon. We can go talk with Blake since she should be back from work soon, too."

Reese bounced on the balls of her feet. "Sure thing. I'll hang out up front and we can head back together." She spun on her foot and shot a wink at Weiss as she headed to a table to sit and wait. Weiss watched her sit down and pull out her phone before blinking and turning to drag the book cart back up front, giving up on it for the day.

* * *

Ruby scrolled through another page of furniture on her laptop while she leaned against Cinder on the couch. She paused and pointed at a bookcase while looking back up at Cinder.

"We already picked out bookcases, plus you've got yours you wanted to bring, too. We don't need more," Cinder said and poked a finger at Ruby's side which caused her to squirm. "Besides, don't we already have everything on the way we need?"

With a shake of her head, Ruby rolled her eyes. She grabbed her phone off of the couch next to her to type out a message. 'We still need kitchen stuff and bathroom stuff like plates and towels and everything'

Cinder frowned. "I thought I told you I've already got a bunch of stuff ordered since it's easier. Towels and such. Plates I thought we could hit up thrift stores and find something neat. Same with cups and everything."

Ruby listened and then nodded. 'Alright, in that case, why don't we pack up some more of my stuff?'

"Did Yang bring home more boxes? Because I thought we used all of the ones from yesterday."

'She did last night. They're in the garage.' Ruby closed her laptop and set it aside, then got up from the couch and stretched.

Cinder followed behind and the two went into the garage to find piles of boxes scattered about and Taiyang sitting in the floor in the middle of it all. He turned to see the girls walk in and laughed. "Just who I was going to look for. If you two are going to be moving, I thought it might be a good idea to pawn off some of the clutter in here to you two. We've got like four sets of dishes packed in here somewhere. A lot of it's your grandma's old stuff I was saving for you or your sister. Figured now was as good a time as any to get this stuff out."

Ruby looked confused and typed up a quick message. 'Grandma's stuff?'

Taiyang squinted to read the message from across the garage. "Yeah. My mom. You might not remember her. She passed when you were really little. But, your mom and I went through and set a bunch of stuff aside for you and Yang for when you got older. Pots, pans, dishes, and so on. Your dresser was actually hers, too. Anyway, it's yours if you two want this stuff."

Cinder turned to Ruby who seemed surprised. Ruby nodded with a smile.

"Alright, uhh, Yang brought some more boxes home. They're in the corner there." Taiyang pointed at the corner nearest the door to the house. "I'll finish going through this stuff and add that all to the stack of boxes."

"Um, thank you," Cinder spoke up. "Also, thank you for letting me crash here for the time being."

Taiyang waved his hand to brush the comment off. "You're welcome here any time." He started to get to his feet and winced.

'Dad? Are you alright?' Ruby stepped forward and held the message up.

"Yeah, yeah. I'll be fine. Cold cement isn't the best for my knee. Think it's about break time anyway." He stretched and loud pops came from his joints and he laughed. "Might call it a night here anyway. We can do this stuff tomorrow. Let's order food and watch a movie."

Both girls smiled and headed back inside with Taiyang following behind.

* * *

Ring after ring after ring.

Weiss flopped back onto her bed. The talk with Blake and Reese had gone better than she expected and the three of them had looked at a couple of different apartments close to campus that had three-bedroom listings available.

Ring after ring.

"Baby sister," Winter's voice came from Weiss' phone.

"Finally you answer."

"Finally I hear from you," Winter retorted. "Lose your phone for a while?"

Weiss was quiet for a moment. "I, um-"

"Hey, I'm only teasing. Happy late holidays and new year, by the way," Winter laughed. "Did you do something fun, I hope?"

"Blake invited me to spend the weekend with her and her roommate. I… forgot to bring my charger," Weiss admitted quietly. "What about you, though? Mother said you didn't visit the house. Did you spend it alone in your apartment?"

"Oh, no, I um-" There was a pause where Winter hesitated to say where she was. She decided to go ahead with it. "I got invited over to the Xiao Long house for dinner. I spent most of the day there, then was helping at the gym the next day getting ready for the new year influx."

A long pause from Weiss' side of thing was finally broken. "Why were you-? I, um… How- how is she?"

"Ruby? She's doing well. She was in a good mood. And if you were going to ask why I was there, I've been spending time with her sister, Yang."

Weiss sighed. "Are you and Yang…?"

"Dating? I could ask the same of you and Blake if we want to play that game," Winter laughed.

"Fine, fine. I won't pry. But, if you um- if you see Ruby again, can you tell her I'm sorry?" Weiss' voice was soft and quiet. It was clear to Winter the weight behind the words and that this was still eating at her. It was probably also why Weiss couldn't entertain the idea of her and Blake dating. Or her and anyone dating.

"I'll let her know," Winter said with a warm inflection to her words. "What was it you called me about, though?" Winter asked, changing the subject.

"Oh, I'm thinking about living off-campus this next semester. I just wanted your thoughts on it, I guess."

"Are you going to be able to find a place in time? Most of the single apartments are full by now."

Weiss rolled on her side and reached to turn the lamp next to her bed on. "Not going for a single. I was asked if I wanted to split a place, actually. It's going to be a lot less expensive, and I figured since I have a job now it might be worth doing-"

"Oh? You didn't tell me you got a job? Look at you. Growing up before my eyes."

"Ugghhh, this. This is why I don't talk with you often. But yes, I did. Blake's roommate helped me, actually. I'm working in the campus library. They'll work my schedule around my classes and everything."

"Well, good. Good. I have to ask, who are you moving in with, though?"

Weiss sat up and scooted over on her bed to lean back against her pillows in a more comfortable position. "Blake and Reese."

"That's good, right? If you think you can manage things, I say you should try it. Did you want me to talk to mother about forwarding you any money for this?" Winter's question sounded sincere.

"No, I- I've still got most of what you gave me, and I've been saving what I'm getting from work. I should be alright."

"Saving money, too. My baby sister is becoming an adult so fast."

"Shut up," Weiss huffed. "But, thank you," she added.

"Was there anything else you needed?"

"No, that was it," Weiss said. "I'll let you go."

"It was good to hear from you. I'll be sure to keep you informed if anything happens and let me know if you need anything. Especially if you need help moving anything. I can probably get your stuff from the house sent over when you go to move."

Weiss couldn't stop the yawn from happening. It was a long day for her and she was starting to feel it catch up with her. "Mm, thank you. Love you. Goodnight."

"Love you, too. Get some sleep, sleepyhead."


	29. Chapter 29

**29 - Helpless In The Light**

With the turn of a key the engine shuts off and dark silence filled the air for a brief moment. It took a few seconds for eyes to adjust to the sudden change in light. When she got out of her car, Winter looked a bit puzzled since she didn't see Yang's truck in the driveway. Something at work must have kept her late, and while Winter was getting ready to head back inside her car, the front door opened and cast light from inside out over the walkway.

"Oh, uh, hey Ruby. Yang's not back yet I take it?" Winter smiled and stuck her hands into her jacket pockets.

Ruby shook her head and then motioned for her to get inside. Winter hesitated but Ruby motioned again and she followed this time. Being early for everything was something she had ingrained into her from a young age. A proper Schnee always arrives early for an appointment. But, in the instance of being invited over for dinner, it seemed arriving early was more awkward than proper.

The evening's chill was swept away when Winter entered the home, warmth already soothing any numbness that was threatening to set in from the outside chill. Ruby held up her phone with a message on it for Winter to read. 'Yang's not back home yet, but she should be back soon. She's picking up dinner.'

Still getting accustomed to Ruby's way of communicating, Winter took a few seconds to read the message. "Ah, alright. Is- Is it just you here?" she asked.

Ruby shook her head and typed. 'Dad's in the garage and Cinder's in the guest room. Did you want something to drink or anything?' She nodded to the kitchen and Winter shook her head.

"Oh, no, that's okay," Winter said while she started to slip her shoes off. "So, Yang mentioned you were moving soon?" She smiled at Ruby and walked into the living room taking a seat on the edge of the couch. Ruby followed her and flopped onto the couch where it seemed she had been sitting before, judging by the book and drink sitting nearby.

'Hopefully next week. We're still getting everything ready and packed.' Ruby held up the message and Winter nodded.

"Always exciting to move out from your parents' house. Since I'm not your parent or sibling I can tell you this, but party responsibly," Winter laughed.

Ruby smirked and nodded. 'I know.' The two were quiet for a moment and it looked like they both were trying to think of something to say. Ruby bit her bottom lip as she thought about whether or not she should ask. She quickly tapped out a message and held up. 'How's Weiss?'

Winter read the message and glanced between it and Ruby, debating what to say exactly. "She actually asked me about you the other day. She wanted me to let you know she's sorry," Winter said quietly and watched Ruby's expression.

'Is she still mad at me?'

Ruby's question surprised Winter. "If she was ever mad with you, she never told me. She worried you were mad at her."

Again, the two fell into silence, but it was broken when they heard the door to Yang's truck close. The question of why Weiss thought Ruby was mad at her seemed to be answered before Ruby could give it much thought. This was something she was going to have to ask Yang about.

* * *

Ruby frowned while typing up a message on her phone. She didn't look up at her sister as she slowly closed the door to the garage. "What is it you wanted to talk about, Rubes?" Yang asked and stepped closer to her sister. Ruby only continued typing, pausing, deleting, and retyping.

'Winter was saying Weiss was asking about me. I thought she was mad at me, but it turns out that wasn't the case. Why did you tell me that she was?' Ruby held her phone for Yang to read and stared at her with the same frown as before.

When she read it, Yang's shoulders slumped and Ruby took her phone back to type another message. "Look, Ruby, I just thought that-"

Ruby interrupted her and held her phone up again. 'Is it the same reason why she thought I was mad at her?'

Yang took a breath and sighed. She nodded. She knew she had been found out.

'You let me think she hated me this whole time?'

"I did. I thought it best if you didn't see her so she couldn't upset you further. I was… I was so mad at her. Still am. So, if you're going to be mad at someone, be mad at me." Yang looked mildly defeated as she stood and waited for Ruby to say something.

'I AM mad at you. But… I can see why you did it. I still don't like it and I think it was not your call to make.' Ruby sighed and shook her head. She walked to the fridge and got a soda, ignoring Yang and walked back inside.

Yang was left in the garage with her thoughts.

* * *

Dinner went by without any incidents. The tension between Ruby and Yang was put aside as the evening continued but was not unnoticed. Yang was unusually quiet during mealtime, and Ruby ate slower than normal while refusing to look over at her sister. Whenever asked about it, both of them denied there being an issue, and both Winter and Cinder accepted that while dinner went on.

Ruby still had to process the information. Her sister was the reason she hadn't heard from Weiss in months. Was the reason she was left to believe that Weiss was mad at her. Was the reason she felt so hurt and abandoned for so long and why she stopped going to her favorite bookstore. She couldn't imagine the issues that Weiss was going through because of it, too. But… Despite all of this, some part of her was still thankful that it happened. She looked over at Cinder next to her on the couch and couldn't help but feel that if it hadn't gone the way it did, she wouldn't be in her life right then. She wouldn't be preparing to move into a house with her girlfriend.

Feeling the eyes on her, Cinder turned to look at Ruby with a quizzical raised brow to which Ruby shook her head. Cinder tilted her head at a slight angle and Ruby sighed, picking up her phone.

'I'm alright. Really.'

Cinder grabbed her own phone and messaged Ruby. 'You've been off all evening. Ever since Yang came back. Something happened between you two. Should I be mad at her with you?' She smiled at Ruby.

The comment made Ruby partially smile back and she shook her head. 'It's nothing. I'll be fine.'

Cinder rolled her eyes. 'That "I'll be fine" means you're not fine right now, so what is it?'

Indecision was on Ruby's face while she contemplated whether or not to tell Cinder. She sucked on her bottom lip and chewed it while she thought, then finally began typing. 'Yang lied to me about some things after my accident'

The response didn't really help to answer Cinder's questions and only left more. 'What did she lie about?' She turned on the couch to better face Ruby while they talked.

'It's about Weiss'

Cinder didn't respond immediately. She read the message and slowly nodded as she processed the information. Her stomach tightened and felt like it dropped as the anxiety squeezed her. It took her a moment to try and calm herself enough to figure out why she felt like she did. "I, um…" she said out loud and looked at Ruby who looked back, concerned.

'Yang made me think Weiss was mad at me and made Weiss think I was mad at her. But, it's already done.' Ruby tried to reassure Cinder.

On the other side of the living room, Winter and Yang sat on the floor talking about something that Ruby and Cinder couldn't hear. From how they were gesturing and holding hands up it looked to be boxing related. Neither of them noticed when Cinder nodded towards the hall. And neither of them noticed when she got up to leave the room with Ruby following after her.

Inside the guest room, Cinder flopped onto the bed. Ruby carefully sat next to her and pulled her closer. 'I know that look. It's your worried face. The "I'm scared my super amazing and perfect girlfriend who is the best person in the world is going to disappear" face. But I'm not going anywhere.' Ruby handed Cinder her phone to read while she shifted to sit on the bed with her back against the pillows and headboard. She crossed her legs and patted her lap for Cinder to rest her head there.

Cinder handed the phone back to Ruby and moved to do what Ruby told her. Once her head was on Ruby's lap, she gazed up at her, Ruby's face looking upside down from her point of view. "I know," she mumbled unconvincingly. "Sorry."

Ruby shook her head. 'Don't be sorry'

"Now that… you know it was a misunderstanding, though-"

Cinder was interrupted by Ruby scowling and covering her mouth with her hand. With her free hand, Ruby typed out, 'No' She took her hand away and typed another message. 'I'm mad at Yang for lying to me, but I don't think I want anything to change. She was breaking up with me, remember?'

Cinder nodded softly.

'There's some part of me that's a little happy it happened because if it didn't, I don't think we would be where we are. But Yang lied to me and… I'm confused about it all.'

Cinder nodded again and reached up for one of Ruby's hands. She pulled it down and held it over her mouth and softly kissed it. The fingers of Cinder's prosthetic were colder than those of her other hand. "I'm sorry," she whispered against Ruby's fingers and kissed them again. Ruby moved her hand from Cinder's and cupped her girlfriend's cheek as she leaned down to peck a soft kiss. Afterward, Ruby shook her head.

* * *

"And James went down like a sack of bricks, right in front of the new gym member and everything," Winter laughed and threw a few playful punches in the air. "So, now I've got my first actual client. James better be careful or I'll take his entire client list." She grinned.

Yang laughed and shook her head while she listened to Winter talk. "I'd have paid to see that," she said and laid back on the floor with a groan. She tilted her head back to see her sister and Cinder no longer in the room. "Hmm," she huffed quietly.

Winter poked Yang in the side. "With those two gone, you want to tell me what was going on with you and Ruby earlier?" She raised an eyebrow and leaned over to stare down at Yang who rolled on her side to avoid the gaze.

"Not particularly," Yang mumbled. "But since I know you won't leave it be, she's rightfully mad at me."

"Care to fill me in?"

"Again, no, but I will anyway," Yang sighed and was quiet for a few moments as she rolled onto her back again. "She's mad that I lied to her about some things. I was- I was mad and let her believe some things, and then it felt too late to correct them, and I just ignored it hoping it wouldn't come to light. It wouldn't have if you-" Yang stopped herself and took a deep breath. "I didn't mean that. Sorry. I'm just-"

"You don't need to explain," Winter shrugged and stood up, reaching a hand down to help Yang up. There was a moment's hesitation before Yang accepted. "Sounds like you need to apologize to her later. She probably needs time right now, so just leave her and Cinder be for a bit."

Yang stretched and popped her back. "Yeah…"

"It's still early enough. Want to hit the gym? Think you could use a fight to get your mind off things for a bit." Winter smirked at Yang and placed a hand on her shoulder. "I still need to get you back for that last time, anyway."

"Oh, whatever. Like you could beat me. Let's go, snowflake. You're on," Yang laughed.

* * *

Yang's mind wasn't in the fight at first. She took a few too many hits and felt rattled. Frustrated. Her situation with Ruby kept creeping into her thoughts when she tried to push it out and it was distracting her. She could tell Winter was going easy on her, too, and that was even more frustrating. She grunted as another hit connected and suddenly she was feeling focused. Something about the overhead lighting humming was all she could hear. Everything else grew muted.

The next punch that came at her she stepped to the left to avoid and threw one of her own. When that connected, she threw another, ducking and weaving as she went, throwing another and another. She felt every punch that hit her winding her up more, and the hum of those damn lights was all she heard. Her thoughts grew blank as she went, running only on visual cues to anticipate movement from Winter, but it wasn't always enough for her to avoid.

Her technique may have been sloppy, but she hit hard and connected more often than not. Yang took another blow and she was beginning to really feel worn out. She threw another couple rapid hits at Winter who then put her hands up to tap out. Yang was already throwing another hit when that happened and she swerved her arm up to avoid hitting Winter but she stumbled forward against her and the two of them hit the ropes of the side.

Winter grunted and was the first to her feet. She pulled one glove off, using her arm to help grab it. Once free, she took her mouth guard out. "Easy there," she laughed and started to help Yang back up.

Yang was in the process of removing her gloves when she felt her legs wobble and fell on her butt. Rather than try and get up she laid back and took her mouth guard out and breathed heavily. "Sorry," she gasped out between breaths. "Might've gone too hard," she admitted and turned her head to look up at Winter, letting her eyes admire the way her legs looked in the gym shorts.

"Eyes are up here, Miss," Winter teased but let her own gaze wander over the woman on the ground in front of her, too. She finished taking her gloves off and reached down to grab the bottles of water she took in with them. "Should probably drink something."

Yang lifted an arm up half-hearted to accept the water and let her arm drop back down. "Yeah, yeah. Gimme a minute. Or five."

Winter sat down next to Yang and leaned back against the ropes while she drank her water. "I have to say, though, I love the kind of woman that can kick my ass," she laughed.

"Oh, fuck you," Yang groaned and rolled on her side to get up while laughing. She scooted next to Winter and leaned against the ropes as well. "You just like that I don't put up with your shit," she teased.

"Alright, that, too," Winter admitted and leaned to the side so her upper arm rested against Yang. The moment was interrupted by the ringing of Winter's phone. "Ugghh, not answering it." She waited for it to finish ringing, and when it did she breathed in relief only to have it start ringing again. "What could they possibly need me for right now?" she asked while starting to get to her feet. Her phone was sitting on a chair below along with a towel and more water and she had to climb through the ropes to get down. By the time she got to it, her phone had stopped ringing only to start again. The phone number was unlisted and she eyed it skeptically.

"Winter's phone," Winter said with a confident edge.

Yang looked over at Winter and saw her face turn to one of confused frustration.

"No, absolutely not! I'm happy where I'm at, thank you. No- Mother, no."

Winter went quiet for what felt like a minute and Yang couldn't help but trying to listen to what was being said on the other side of the line, but it was too far away for her to hear anything but what Winter was saying.

"You will not ask her. I'm happy you got that settled, but leave the two of us out of it, thank you. Now if you'll excuse me, I have things that need tending to. Goodnight, mother." Winter hung up her phone and set it down with a soft thud.

"So… How's your mom?" Yang asked with a laugh.

Winter rolled her eyes. "Great, apparently. She's now the sole owner of the company again. That call that apparently couldn't wait until later was to ask me to come back."

"And you said no."

"I said no," Winter confirmed with a shrug. "I'm much happier here anyway."

Yang smirked. "Alright, well, help me up, Miss Personal Trainer. My arms are jelly and my legs are probably the same," she laughed.

Winter shook her head and laughed as she climbed back into the ring. "Let's get cleaned up and changed. Maybe we can grab coffee on the way back." She reached a hand down to help Yang up and groaned as she pulled her to her feet. "Come on," she nodded and climbed out of the ring.

"Hot shower. Hot coffee. Bed," Yang mumbled and followed behind.


	30. Chapter 30

**30 - Two Moves**

"No, turn it- Other way, other way," Yang grunted and shifted her stance while holding one end of a dresser. Winter on the other end tried to do the same and angle the piece of furniture inside. With a couple of sets, the two finally got it inside the house and set it down with an exhausted sigh.

"That thing weighs a ton," Winter groaned and leaned across the wooden furniture. "The drawers aren't even in it," she added, shaking her head.

"Hey, Ruby? Cinder? One of you? Is this going in the bedroom, or is it the TV stand?" Yang called out, looking outside to the moving truck.

Cinder poked her head out of the back. "I think Ruby said living room. We've got a dresser in the bedroom already."

"Oh thank god," Winter mumbled and reached down to grab the edges of the dresser again. "Let's do this."

"Alright," Yang agreed and squatted down to do the same. It only needed to go halfway across the room and they managed to place it easily enough and sat in the floor.

"Last of the furniture, right?" Winter asked and breathed heavily to catch her breath.

Yang nodded. "Rest is just boxes," she reassured Winter. "It's cooler outside. I'll grab a couple waters and be out in a sec."

Winter nodded and got to her feet with mild sounds of discomfort. Yang did the same and walked to the kitchen to grab a couple of bottles of water out of the fridge. When she came back around she saw Cinder and Ruby each carrying boxes in the front door. "If it needs moving, we'll do it in a bit, but it's there," she pointed with one of the bottles of water.

"No, that's perfect," Cinder smiled. "Thank you."

"Of course, but I need a break. We'll help with the rest in a minute." Yang sighed and walked outside to see Winter sitting on a front porch step. "Here," she said and tossed a bottle to her.

Winter caught the water and laughed. "Going to be rough tomorrow. I've still got that two-o-clock and another at five."

"Ugh, don't remind me. I'm supposed to finish a bunch of snow tire jobs first thing tomorrow since dad said the delivery should be here later." Yang sat down next to Winter and finally opened her water to take a drink. The cool January air felt refreshing after spending the past hour carrying furniture and heavy boxes inside for her sister. The two sat in silence sipping at their waters and feeling the breeze picking up cool them down. Footsteps behind them caught their attention and Yang got up to move out of the way and let her sister and Cinder through.

"Suppose we should finish this up?" Winter asked and looked up at Yang.

"Yeah, should only be a little bit left," Yang replied and set her bottle on the railing. She offered a hand down to Winter to help her up.

"Thanks," Winter said and stretched when she got upright again.

* * *

Unloading the truck took very little time and the four were done in no time. They were all exhausted but done. The only thing left was unpacking and returning the moving truck. Luckily, Winter had driven her own car to the house and agreed to follow Yang back to bring the truck back.

During their absence, Ruby and Cinder set about unpacking necessities. Some of the kitchen was unpacked, some of the bathroom, and living room furniture was cleared off. The rest could be done later. Ruby started connecting the entertainment center up and her sister and Winter arrived back.

When Ruby finished setting everything up, she laid back on the floor and stared at the ceiling. Cinder reached for the remote from the coffee table and flipped to a video streaming service to find something to put on in the background. Winter sat down on the end of the couch and leaned back, getting comfortable.

"I say we order pizza," Winter said, already pulling her phone out. "Sound alright to everyone?" She looked around the room to see if anyone had any objections. "Alright, and… your dad is coming over when he's done at the shop, right?"

"Mm, yeah," Yang replied.

"Three larges should be good, right?" Winter didn't have to look to know Ruby was looking over at her. "And the breadsticks. I know," she laughed. It took her just a moment to pull up the restaurant's website and punch in the order. "I've got… a combination, a pepperoni, a cheese, and two order of breadsticks. Anything else?" Winter looked between everyone but saw now objections, so she placed the order. "Should be here in about forty minutes," she said and set her phone on the arm of the couch.

"How much do we owe you?" Cinder asked but was met with a shake of Winter's head.

"Don't worry about it. It's just pizza," Winter laughed.

Yang looked like she had something on her mind. Winter knew what it was since the two of them had talked about it on the ride back after dropping the truck off. Cinder finally relaxed and was mindlessly staring off, the exhaustion hitting her finally. Yang looked down to Ruby. "Hey, um… Rubes. Can I talk to you a sec?" She nodded towards the kitchen and took a step towards it.

Ruby looked up at her with a confused expression but started to get to her feet. She grabbed her phone from the coffee table and followed Yang.

"So, I…" Yang started to say when the two were out of earshot of the others. She leaned back against one of the counters next to the sink. "I want to apologize more properly for… Well, everything. That wasn't fair of me to make those decisions for you."

Ruby frowned and started typing on her phone.

"I'm sorry for doing that and making a mess of everything," Yang continued.

Ruby held her phone up. 'I've thought about it a lot this last week and I'm not exactly mad.'

It was Yang's turn to frown while Ruby took a moment to type again.

'I don't like that you lied to me, and I don't like that you hurt me and hurt Weiss, but I know why you did it and I can't be mad for you looking out for me.'

Yang's expression turned from a frown to one of genuine sadness. She didn't like upsetting her sister. While trying to think of what to say, Ruby continued.

'Just… don't lie to me anymore. Okay?'

Yang read the message and nodded. "Okay. No more lies," she spoke softly.

Ruby stepped forward and pulled Yang into a tight hug. They stayed like that for a moment, and when they broke, Ruby had one more thing to say.

'You said no more lies. Now, are you sleeping with Winter?'

Yang coughed and sputtered, the question completely catching her off guard. She saw Ruby's expression change to a devious grin.

'You seem happier now that the two of you spend more time together is all I'm saying. If you two aren't dating you should be.' Ruby held the message up with a shrug and returned to the living room without getting an answer.

* * *

Weiss pushed open the door to her dorm room and slid in a stack of empty boxes. With a quick slide of her hand over the switch next to the doorway the overhead light turned on to illuminate the surprisingly cleaned up room. Blake followed in behind her and looked around.

"This is a lot better than last time I was here," she mused with a small poke to Weiss' side which made the shorter girl squirm.

"I'll have you know I spent a lot of time getting it to this state, thank you," Weiss shot back.

"So, what all is left besides the obvious?"

Weiss took a deep breath and spun around on her foot to survey the room. "I've already packed all of my clothes, emptied the shelves. It's just what's on top of the dresser, what's on my nightstand, and what's in the closet, but that stuff is still in boxes." The last bit she added with an embarrassed tone. "I never actually finished unpacking."

Blake shrugged with a smile. "Just makes it easier for us now, right?" She reached for the top box from the stack and headed to the dresser to begin placing the various items inside.

Weiss took a box to her nightstand and started to do the same. Various books and knickknacks she has scattered over near her bed were wedged around her lamp and alarm clock. Without giving it much thought, she pulled the drawer out and dumped its contents into the box on top of everything else when she noticed a picture frame she had forgotten about. Behind her, Blake had finished getting everything on top of the dresser and turned to see Weiss holding the frame and staring at it.

"You alright, Weiss?" Blake asked as she approached and placed a hand on the small of Weiss' back. When she looked down she saw why Weiss had stopped. The framed photo was of the whole group; Yang, Blake, Weiss, and Ruby. Blake remembered when it was taken. They had all been dressed up for a school dance and were meeting at Ruby and Yang's house before heading out when Taiyang had insisted on taking a group photo for them all to have. Despite how everything went in the few years that followed, seeing it did stir happy memories in Blake, but she could tell without looking it wasn't the same for Weiss.

"Y-yeah, um-" Weiss cut herself off and immediately tucked the frame into the box. "Sorry. I just forgot that was in there," she said quietly.

"You sure?" Blake's question was followed with her rubbing small circles on Weiss' back.

"I'll be alright. I just- a lot's been on my mind."

Blake gently nudged Weiss towards the bed to sit down and she followed, taking a seat right next to her. It didn't need to be said what Blake was thinking of asking. Weiss already knew and continued to talk.

"I told you how I asked Winter if Ruby was still mad at me? Not- not because I want to-"

Blake cut her off with a smile and hand on her arm. "No, I know."

Weiss calmed down some. "Anyway, she said she was never mad at me and that she thought I was mad at her and that there was a miscommunication which…" She sighed. "Yang kept us apart. And I can't blame her for that. Not after what I did. I'm not upset anymore. Just sad. I'm sorry, I'm-"

Blake wrapped an arm around Weiss and pulled her in for a hug. "Hey, you're alright."

Weiss didn't fight it and leaned into the hug. She didn't know exactly what to think about everything anymore. She felt relieved that Ruby wasn't mad at her, but she felt sore thinking that Ruby thought she was mad at her. But it didn't sting like she thought it would. It had been a while and she knew that she was over her relationship with Ruby. Was it simply guilt that weighed on her? Talking with Winter let her feel lighter and allowed her to let go of a lot of things. Weiss relaxed further against Blake and enjoyed being close to her.

"Reese will be over with the truck soon. Let's finish up since we're almost do-"

Blake's words were cut off when Weiss leaned up to press a kiss. Weiss didn't know why she did it, but it felt right. Blake froze for a second before leaning into the kiss. The two of them pulled back and a look of panic set in over Weiss' face.

"Oh no, I don't know why I did that, I'm so-"

Weiss was cut off when Blake pecked a quick kiss in return. Small and chaste with a rosy blush spreading over her nose. "Don't apologize," she smiled. The kiss had quieted Weiss and she looked up at Blake with a feeling of embarrassment. "Besides," Blake added. "I may have wanted to kiss you before, too."

It was Weiss' turn to feel flushed and she shyly looked away.

Blake stood up from the bed. "We should finish up here, though, and we can talk about this later, alright? Once we get everything to the apartment, I think Reese mentioned something about ordering food," she smiled. Weiss nodded in response and got up from the bed to finish her packing.

* * *

With the sun set and the last of everyone's things dragged upstairs into the three-bedroom apartment, the three girls decided to take a breather before doing anything else.

"I'll drop the truck off tomorrow," Reese groaned as she flopped onto the old couch they acquired. The beige and green plaid pattern of its fabric clashed horribly with the purple of Reese's sweatshirt and created a dizzying mishmash of visual stimuli. Weiss had to look away and opted to lay in the floor. Blake curled herself into an armchair she insisted on getting for herself. "I say we-"

"Order pizza," the three of them said in unison, Blake and Weiss laughing at the confused expression that grew on Reese's face.

"Oh, shove it you two," Reese grumbled. "Besides, I'm not hearing any complaints to the plan yet, unless either of you have a better idea. And don't say go to the store. I am way too tired for that."

Weiss shrugged despite nobody looking down where she was. "Sounds fine to me." She limply reached to where her purse was tossed near the couch but couldn't reach it. "I've got cash," she mumbled and rolled to her side to better reach her bag.

"Not today, princess," Reese warned her only to have Weiss grumble at the nickname.

"I'm an ex-heiress, thank you," Weiss corrected her with a roll of her eyes.

Blake looked up and over to Reese and Weiss. "She has a point. You already paid for the truck rental and packing supplies, princess," Blake added with a teasing smirk knowing full well it would get a rise from Weiss.

"Ugghh, you two, I swear. Ex-heiress. Ex," Weiss rolled back onto her back and turned her head to glare at Blake.

"Alright, alright, but you still paid for a lot. Go ahead and order, Reese." Blake shifted in her chair to sit up straighter and stretched a foot out to gently nudge Weiss' foot to get her attention. She nodded towards her bedroom while Reese got up to look for her laptop. Weiss looked puzzled but got up to follow Blake. "We've got to talk about something real quick," Blake said to Reese as they were leaving.

"Is it about how you're totally in love with each other? If so, you can talk out here unless you were planning on sucking face, then by all means do that in there," Reese answered without even looking up from her digging through a box. Both Weiss and Blake stopped in their tracks and looked confusedly over to Reese who just found her laptop bag and stood up to walk back to the couch. When she sat down she looked back up to the other two. "What? You two aren't subtle."

Weiss was at a loss for words and a soft blush spread over her cheeks. She turned to look at Blake who seemed just as confused.

"Go talk, I'm gonna order food. Hope it's alright if I put on some music?"

"I, um, yeah, go for it," Blake sputtered out and blinked. She looked to Weiss who simply shrugged and stepped into the bedroom with Blake in tow.

"Was that, um-" Weiss started and cut herself off.

"Yeah," was all Blake could get out.

"So, I guess… Now that- Would you like to, um…" Weiss couldn't fully get her thoughts out, but Blake picked up on their meaning.

"Weiss, will you go out with me?" Blake asked rather bluntly to cut through the awkwardness.

Weiss nodded with a smile growing on her face. "Yes," she spoke quietly and closed the short distance to hug Blake. Having to stand on her toes, she leaned up to meet Blake partway in a kiss.

* * *

Cinder sat curled on the couch in the living room with Ruby laid out, resting her head in Cinder's lap. Taiyang, Yang, and Winter sat on the floor at the coffee table where pizza boxes sat open and were talking and joking. In the background, a movie was playing that nobody was really paying attention to. Cinder was barely paying attention to anything, deep in thought about how things had turned out over the past while and how thankful she was for everything, but Taiyang's voice took her out of her head.

"You know, if you ever wanted a job, we can definitely use you at the shop," he offered with a laugh.

Yang gave him a soft punch to the shoulder before turning to Cinder herself. "Really, though, if either of you wanted a job, we can use the help. I'd rather hire people we know than some random person," she added.

Cinder smiled. "I'll think about it," she said and looked down at Ruby to thread her fingers through her hair as she was drifting off.

Winter placed her hand on Yang's shoulder. "Look at you, finally taking my business advice and trying to get some help in there. Almost like I went to school for this stuff and know what I'm talking about," she teased.

Yang gave her a shove and she fell over. "Yeah, whatever."

Behind her, Taiyang smirked. "At least she listens to someone here."

"Ughh, not you too, dad. Really?" Yang laid back on the floor. "Whatever you two."

On the couch, Cinder snorted in amusement and smiled as she watched the three on the floor with Ruby sleeping on her lap.


End file.
